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Bok choy (American English, Canadian English, and Australian English), pak choi (British English, South African English, and Caribbean English) or pok choi is a type of Chinese cabbage ( Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) cultivated as a leaf vegetable to be used as food. Varieties do not form heads and have green leaf blades with lighter bulbous bottoms instead, forming a cluster reminiscent of Brassica juncea. Its flavor is described as being between spinach and but slightly sweeter, with a mildly peppery undertone. The green leaves have a stronger flavor than the white bulb.
Chinensis varieties are popular in southern China, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. Originally classified as Brassica chinensis by Carl Linnaeus, they are now considered a subspecies of Brassica rapa. They are a member of the family Brassicaceae.
There are two main types of bok choy, collectively called 小白菜 xiǎo bái cài ("small white vegetable") in Mandarin. One is white bok choy () with dark green blades and white stalks, which is primarily cultivated in South China, and in Cantonese it is simply called baak choi (; the same characters pronounced bái cǎi by Mandarin speakers are preferably used for Napa cabbage). The other is green bok choy (; ; ; ; ) with light green stalks, which is more common in East China; the young and tender plants of green bok choy is called baby bok choy (), which is less crisp and therefore may become too soft if overcooked.
In Australia, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries has redefined many transcribed names to refer to specific cultivars. They have introduced the word buk choy to refer to white bok choy and redefined pak choy to refer to green bok choy.
As bok choy grew in use, it spread to other parts of Asia and was eventually cultivated in countries such as Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Bok choy plantations were present in Japan and Malaya by the early 19th century. In Malaya, bok choy was not commonly consumed by the poor.
The vegetable was introduced to Europe in the mid-18th century. A Swede named Osbeck brought bok choy seeds to Europe during the same time period Jesuit missionaries brought similar strains of the vegetable to German scientists working in Russia. Bok choy was introduced to North America in the 19th century, but did not gain in use for another century.
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