choy, glorious choy!

these days a lot of supermarkets sell bok choy and napa cabbage, and broccoli rabe is a reasonably good substitute for gai lan.

nonetheless, there are plenty of types of asian greens which never find their way into suburbia. the contrast is striking when you realise that, in new york chinatown, they will sell these otherwise-rare veg ..

.. on street corners, by the pound.

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when i was younger, supermarkets in nyc chinatown were rare. visiting now, i see more of them.

lao wai choi (老 外 菜), mostly.

11 & 1 o'clock: radish-like root veg,

then there are other asian sundries, like tofu, fresh rice noodles, as well as rice-flour wrappers used to make wontons:



soy sauce, anyone?

4 o'clock, green label: organic soy sauce!