‘Tai Sai’ White Stem Pak Choi

From our 2010 trials – a special Pak Choi from Japan, bred for unusually large and long white stems. It is remarkably bolt-resistant and can be sown in early spring or in midsummer. See Ben’s penknife in the photo for a sense of how huge these can get!

The stems are tender and it is quick to grow with a particularly good flavour. It’s interesting to see how people in other countries have bred similar vegetables, but starting from different plants; this seems to be the pak-choi equivalent of the large-stemmed Chard that is used in Northern Europe.

We were very sucessful growing this in a greenhouse in early spring, getting large heads by the start of May. We were really impressed by the fact that it didn’t run to seed even in the heat.