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Andrew Sun

Is broccolini the new kale? 
Produce and ingredients are not immune to the whims of fashion. Foods also go in and out of style, changing every few years. If you think vegetables are evergreens – pun intended – you’d be wrong. 
For a time, kale was the must-eat food that was on every shopping list. It was no longer solely for vegan yogis and detoxing tai tais – the trendy green crossed over from being a healthy superfood to a grocery luxury that anyone could incorporate into salads and cooked dishes. 
It’s so ubiquitous now, I had a Lunar New Year takeaway poon choi (a “basin meal” comprising layers of different foods, a southern Chinese tradition) from a hotel in Hong Kong and it included kale among the vegetables we could cook in the remaining broth. I guess kale instantly makes anything healthy, even if the rest of the dish consists of meat and fat.



Growing up, I never even knew this green existed. When I first heard about kale, I assumed it was just another vegetable that granola-munching hippies ate in communes. Little did I know it was often used as a green decoration on Pizza Hut salad bars. It’s ironic now to think that the kale was there for display while the nutrition-free iceberg lettuce was served for consumption. 
But in the past decade, it’s become a precious commodity, and 2012 was the height of its popularity. The US Department of Agriculture noted that year that kale production had increased 60 per cent since 2007. Bon Appétit magazine anointed 2012 as the “year of kale” and Time magazine included it on its list of top 10 food trends.
Vegan Lunar New Year treats: cakes to cookies, pastries to poon choi

However, as Heidi Klum would say on Project Runway, “one day you’re in, the next you’re out”. Kale’s sex appeal soon started to wane. Sales in America fell by more than three per cent in 2016. Anecdotally, nobody I know craves kale chips any more, and I’m sure we’ve all been turned off gnawing through a fibrous kale salad where the raw leaves were too tough to chew through. 
In the past couple of years, a new trendy veg has entered the scene. Broccolini is suddenly the green du jour. With a long stalk, it was developed in the late 90s with the goal of combining the crunchy stem of asparagus with broccoli’s attractive florets. What was actually used in the crossbreeding was Chinese broccoli, known locally as gai lan. 
One industry survey noted its yearly consumption growth rate has increased to 30 per cent, meaning a lot of people are starting to discover broccolini. In recent months, I’ve seen this hybrid ingredient – its producers are adamant it was developed but is not genetically modified – on a lot more menus and at markets.



Unsurprisingly, the long-stemmed broccolini is way more expensive to buy from shops such as City’super or Great than the similar baby gai lan, which has shorter stumps but is equally crunchy and sold at wet markets for only about HK$10 a catty (0.6kg). 
Really, what’s not to like. The vegetable has a nice texture, and is versatile – it can be roasted, steamed, sautéed or baked, using Western or Asian flavours – although I think that most restaurants way overcook it. The big question is how long broccolini can stay at the top, because there’s a fresh crop of veggies vying for attention. 
Chefs with green credentials mess around with less common items like kohlrabi and rapini when in season. Romanesco is a pretty alternative to cauliflower and broccoli, although I think the mesmerising kaleidoscope appearance hypnotises me when I stare at it for too long. Seaweeds of all types, with their high nutritional value, are destined to shine soon in more than Asian kitchens.



Two even lesser known hybrid greens I believe are highly touted prospects to keep an eye on. Kalettes (little bulbs of Brussels sprouts with kale leaves) and caulilini (cauliflower with the slender stems to broccolini) seem like sure bets for high-end store shelves. Expect them to challenge kale and broccolini in your salad à la mode.


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Food and Drinks

Green vegetable trends: broccolini may be the new kale, and look out for kalettes and caulilini next

Broccolini, a cross between broccoli and Chinese gai lan could overtake kale as the go-to trendy vegetable. Photo: Shutterstock

Kale was the trendiest green vegetable and was ubiquitous for a few years. Photo: Shutterstock

Chinese gai lan with oyster sauce. Gai lan was crossbred with broccoli to make broccolini. Photo: Shutterstock

Romanesco: broccoli at its most mesmerising. Photo: SCMP

Vegan cakes, cookies, pastries and poon choi for Chinese New Year to have a cruelty-free celebration

Green Common’s three vegan Chinese New Year cakes: pumpkin rice cake with red quinoa, turmeric and oatmilk (top); peach gum water chestnut cake with chrysanthemum bud (bottom); and OmniPork vegan XO sauce red quinoa turnip cake (right).

The Cakery, milk oolong and ginger cookie[FEATURES] Photo / Handout

Chinese New Year candy box with raw sprouted and dried fruits (HK$1,288)Photo: Handout

Pure Vegan Chinese pastries in three flavours (brown sugar, pineapple and rose)[FEATURES] Photo / Handout

Pure veggie house, Poon Choi with 18 ingredients all organic from China.[FEATURES] Photo / Handout

The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: mastering the cuisine goes beyond simply learning the techniques

Grace Young cooks cashew chicken. Photo: YouTube / Grace Young

Cook book The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen by Grace Young in Hong Kong on October 14, 2020. 14OCT20 [COOKBOOK POST MAGAZINE] SCMP / JONATHAN WONG

Grace Young, chef and author of cook book The Wisdom the Chinese Kitchen. Photo: YouTube / Grace Young

Chef Cheung Hong-man on poon choi’s humble Hakka origins and how the festive dish has evolved

Cheung’s poon choi. Photo: Handout

Cheung Hong Man, executive chef of restaurant Sha Tin 18, at the Hyatt Regency Sha Tin, in Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP / Jonathan Wong

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Kale is celebrated as a superfood and has been a trendy must-have for a number of years
But there is a new contender: broccolini, a Chinese broccoli hybrid, is all the rage


Vegetables are as subject to trends as anything else. Kale has been a must-have healthy option for years, but a rising star, broccolini, is taking its place as the new king of the trendy veggies. 


Lunar New Year

Chinese food trends

Heidi Klum

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

Mouthing Off

Mouthing Off | Green vegetable trends: broccolini may be the new kale, and look out for kalettes and caulilini next

Kale is celebrated as a superfood and has been a trendy must-have for a number of years But there is a new contender: broccolini, a Chinese broccoli hybrid, is all the rage

Kale is celebrated as a superfood and has been a trendy must-have for a number of years

But there is a new contender: broccolini, a Chinese broccoli hybrid, is all the rage