Napa cabbage

Napa or napa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis or Brassica rapa Pekinensis Group) is a type of Chinese cabbage originating near the Beijing region of China and is widely used in East Asian cuisine. Since the 20th century, it has also become a widespread crop in Europe, the Americas and Australia. In much of the world, this is the vegetable referred to as “Chinese cabbage”. In Australia it also is referred to as “wombok”.

The word “napa” in the name napa cabbage comes from colloquial and regional Japanese, where nappa (菜っ葉) refers to the leaves of any vegetable, especially when used as food.[1] The Japanese name for this specific variety of cabbage is hakusai (白菜), a Sino-Japanese reading of the Chinese name (白菜), literally “white vegetable”. The Korean name for napa cabbage, baechu (배추), is a nativized word from the Sino-Korean reading, baekchae, of the same Chinese character sets. Today in Mandarin Chinese, napa cabbage is known as dàbáicài (大白菜), literally “big white vegetable”, as opposed to the “small white vegetable” that is known in English as bok choy. Other names include Chihili or Michihili.[2]

Outside of Asia, this vegetable is also referred to as Chinese cabbage. Regionally, it is also known as siu choy (from the Cantonese name, 紹菜),[3] and celery cabbage.[4] In the United Kingdom this vegetable is known as Chinese leaf or winter cabbage,[5] in New Zealand as wong bok or won bok, and in the Philippines as wombok or pechay baguio.[6] The name wombok is also used in Australia. Another name used in English is petsai or pe-tsai.[7] In Russia it’s called pekinskaya kapusta (пекинская капуста), literally “Beijing cabbage”.[8]