Big-stem mustard, Swollen-stem mustard, Za-tsai, Sichuan preserved vegetable
Brassica juncea var. tumida

Family: Brassicaceae

What it is like

A cabbage family herb. It grows each year from seed. The taproots are slender and cylinder shaped. The leaves at the base are fleshy and the leaf stalk is inflated. The leaves are 40-80 cm long.

There are about 30 Brassica species and many cultivated varieties.

Where it is found

It is a subtropical plant. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, China

How it is used for food

The stem is trimmed then washed, halved, withered slightly and preserved with salt, cayenne pepper and zanthoxylum pericarps under pressure then marketed.

It is a commercially cultivated vegetable.

Edible parts

Flowers, leaves, oil, stem, vegetable

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Brassica juncea var. tsatsai ined.;