I grew Gai Lan two years ago, this variety and this variety. They were good but both suffered in the summer heat, did much better when I moved them into the shade. Probably not an issue in the fall or winter in zone 10, still, I enjoy broccoli much better.

Tom

I am growing now Chinese Kale Gai Lohn, and got it from Nichols.
In the heat it needed a lot of water, I also have it in a little bit of shade from a nearby maple.
If I like the flavor I will grow more, I will be comparing with other broccoli varieties that I have.

Silvia

whgille, all I can say looking at your pics is "wow!". Your kailan looks great. This is one of my favorite, simply stir-fried with sesame oil, garlic & oyster sauce then sprinkled with brown fried shallots before serving.

ben in sofla, which company in Indonesia did you order your seeds from? Info will be greatly appreciated. I grew up in Asia, my late mum was Indonesian & she taught me what "good" kailan should taste like. I would love to grow some of the "thick stem" variety commonly grown in Indonesia & Thailand.

fern

Fern

Thank you. And yes any tips on Asian cooking will be very much appreciated I am sure by a lot of people in this forum. My daughter loves Tatsoi and I dedicated one full bed for that.

And last time that I lived in Manhattan, one of my favorite places was Indonesian where they serve 50 rijsttafel dishes in one seating! lol

Silvia

There are companies on Ebay selling it. I ordered seeds from a company called Nature Seed Store and I got the seed in about 8 days.

http://home.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=Kailan&_sacat=1509&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_sop=10&_odkw=&_osacat=1509

T-

Sure glad I gave you folks a link to a place where you can buy seeds here, you're welcome.

trini1, thank you very much for your ebay link. Yes, I've found the "right" kind of thick-stem Kailan on that site and ordered some. This seller is from Malaysia and sells tropical Asian veggies which is quite different from those grown further up north though the adopted Chinese names are usually the same. I sure hope what I've ordered will grow in 9bFL. Fingers XXed.

whgille, if you like rijsttafel (Dutch word for rice table) you might be able to "take the heat" of Sambal Oelek, available from Asian stores. Fry sliced onions with some Sambal oelek, add cut kailan stems +-2", stir fry for 1min, add thinly sliced chuck beef, stir to coat with sambal, splash in some beer and add kailan leaves. Mix everything up and cover, lower flame. Ready in about 2 mins. Soy sauce optional.

Tatsoi is the sister plant of pak-choy (soi & choy actually mean vegetable but has been spelt differently due to different Chinese dialects' pronunciations). It is good stir fried with sesame oil, garlic and shrimps. It is also popular in Asian soups. Your daughter has good taste! :)

smallfern, I am actually going to make Sambal Chobek today to give away to my friends that like it hot!!!

For some reason or another I have way too many hot peppers, wherever I looked in the garden, there is a hot pepper looking at me.

Thanks for the recipes, they sound very delicious! Today, I will be growing surgical gloves working with the hot peppers. lol

My daughter likes the Tatsoi because is mild enough to put it in salads and is a nice spinach substitute.

I actually was a little confused about the pak- choi and the Tatsoi, thanks for clarifying.

While in Jamaica I asked for native seeds to the area. One of the ones that gave me is Pak-choi, so now I have both.

Here is some of my Oriental greens last winter

Silvia