Rosette Cabbage Brassica chinensis var. rosularis ‘Tai Ko Tsoi’

LATIN NAME: Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis var. rosularis

COMMON NAME: Tai Ko Tsoi

Tai ko tsoi is the rosette of green that the cool-season garden cannot do without. The low, flat plant forms the tight, handsome rosettes of the rounded, spoon-shaped, dark-green leaves with the puckered, crumpled look, and the whole plant is one leaf after another of the sweet, mild flavour. The plant is a fine, easy green of the cool months, standing the cold well and giving the cut-and-come-again pickings through the winter and the early spring. It is a plant of the open, sunny, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The tai ko tsoi holds a quiet place in the studies of the tight rosettes of the puckered, dark-green leaves and the sweet, mild flavour. The way the plant stands the cold of the winter and keeps its good leaves through the cool months has been studied at length, and it keeps showing up in the work on the leafy greens, the cool-season vegetables and the members of the cabbage family. The low, flat habit and the cut-and-come-again ways have also made it a fine garden plant, and the tai ko tsoi is a regular figure in the studies of the oriental greens and the easy vegetables of the cool season.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The tai ko tsoi is a fine, easy green of the cool months. The tight rosettes of the puckered leaves give the sweet, mild pickings through the winter and the early spring, when the other greens rest, and the plant is a classic of the stir-fries, the soups and the light sautés of the East. The low, neat rosettes are also a handsome, easy crop of the small garden, the pot and the cold frame, standing the frost well. It has been written up in the horticultural and the culinary papers for the cold-hardy ways and the sweet, mild leaves, and it is a fine, generous green of the open, sunny, well-drained garden.

Tai ko tsoi is a classic of the stir-fries, the soups and the light sautés of the East, and the tight rosettes of the puckered leaves give the sweet, mild pickings through the winter and the early spring. The low, neat rosettes stand the frost well and suit the small garden and the cold frame.

To grow the tai ko tsoi from seed, sow the seeds in the open ground in autumn at a shallow depth, in rows a hand’s width apart, keeping the ground moist, and thin the seedlings to a hand’s width. The seedlings push through within a couple of weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun and the well-drained ground, the tight rosettes will be ready for the pickings through the cool season.

Uses: Culinary

(Chinese flat cabbage; Ta tsoi; Wu ta cai ) A cabbage with a very low profile! The leaves form dense flat rosettes only 5cm/2" high and as wide as a dinner plate. Like most cabbages it prefers cooler weather and can even tolerate some light frost. When young the leaves are tender and taste exceptionally good. As plants get older the flavour of the leaves gets stronger but improves with cooking. Grow like other cabbages.