Tatsoi Recipe: How to Cook Chinese Mustard Greens

Tatsoi (Brassica rapa var. narinosa) is a Chinese vegetable in the Brassica family and a type of mustard green. The name tatsoi derives from the Chinese words daat, which means “to sink, fall flat,” and choi (vegetable). Tatsoi is also known as spinach mustard (due to its mild flavor), rosette bok choy (since it grows in a rosette shape), and spoon mustard (due to its spoon-shaped leaves). Tatsoi is native to China but has long been cultivated in Japan, where it is known as tasai and is a popular ingredient in Japanese hot pot dishes like sukiyaki.

If you come home from the farmer's market with a bag of tatsoi, there are a few simple ways to prepare it:

• Stir-fry: Tatsoi is a great addition to any veggie stir fry. It offers the same mild mustard flavor as baby bok choy or Chinese cabbage, but it cooks more quickly. Add the greens to your stir fry during the last few seconds of cooking, and cook until the leaves are just wilted.
• Salad greens: Tatsoi can be harvested at the microgreen stage, baby leaf stage, or at three to four weeks when mature. At any stage, tatsoi makes a great addition to a salad mix. Try mixing tatsoi with baby mizuna, baby mustard greens, arugula, baby kale, or baby chard.
• Pesto: Blend tender tatsoi leaves with cashews, salt, olive oil, and nutritional yeast to make a spicy vegan pesto.