Some weeks I don’t pay attention to the signs and flyers about the produce and recipe suggestions at CSA pickup. Actually, most weeks I don’t. Maybe because it was my first time getting a whole CSA to myself (I’ve been splitting one all summer and made the leap to getting a whole one for the fall), but I’ve actually been paying attention lately and I’m glad I did because I would have had no stinkin’ clue what Hon Tsai Tai is.

I still didn’t have a good idea about what it would taste like, but from the recipe suggestions, Sautéed Hon Tsai Tai and Hon Tsai Tai Stir Fry, I figured it would be similar to any other leafy green.

The stir fry recipe suggested adding rice wine vinegar and I was game since I had no idea what I was doing. In the end, the The Hon Tsai Tai had a very mild flavor and unfortunately with the tang from the vinegar I couldn’t really discern any particular flavor from it. Overall I really enjoyed the stir fry, but next time I would avoid the vinegar so I could really taste the flavor of the Hon Tsai Tai.

I think my favorite part was its bright purple stems!

word on the street: Stores similar to other delicate greens. By day 3 it was getting soft and starting to wilt.

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