The name has a history. When the Dowager Empress Cixi was ill a monk prescribed a diet of cabbage soup and cabbage juice. She had high temperature and was said to be even at her death bed!! But after the strict diet she was cured. Thereafter she named the Chinese long cabbage as The King of Vegetables.
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| My MCO soup : Chinese cabbage with mushroom and egg. Chicken stock. Add a bit of Foochow red wine. |
Besides the Chinese cabbage is also a sign of prosperity and abundance and is therefore a a very presentable Chinese New Year vegetable dish. It is quite normal to have it on the menu of a banquet.
A special mention must be made here. When Chou Enlai hosted the first Republic of China national banquet, Sept. 1949, among the many dishes, was the Lion Head meat ball served in a bed of Chinese long cabbage which had been steamed for hours. (Source :Food and Society, Ed. Gibson, M.)
The Foochows also serve this vegetable in different ways of cooking. One of the best is the way Hock Chu Leu of Sibu prepares - the red cooked cabbage.
The Chinese calls this vegetable Dui bah Chai, but the Foochows in Sibu call it Dong Nern (Tang Ren) Bai. Perhaps when the Foochows came over to Nanyang, they remember the white vegetable of Dong Sang...and hungered for its sweetness.
To me it is a very versatile vegetable and worthy of praise at all times. You can be innovative and cook it in so many different ways.
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