LONG PROMO:   Hey, Chinese New Year begins this week.  It’s the year of the rat, so we are going on an adventure down the produce aisle in the Asian food section – things that maybe many of you have not tried …bok choy, baby bok choy, and of course some Napa cabbage.  And how to cut those Asian vegetables…next week, with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  For Chinese New Year, we’re doing an adventure down the produce aisle…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
BOK CHOY (Monday, February 4):  Hey, it’s Happy New Year!  Chinese New Year begins this week.  It’s the year of the rat and so we’re going to take a walk, an adventure down the produce aisle in the Asian food section.  I know some of you, the closest you get to Asian produce is this right here.  That’s right, an Asian pear.  Well, we’re going to get you using some other Asian products, so let’s get started.   We’re going to start with probably one of the most used items in Asian cooking, and it’s this right here.  It’s called bok choy or pap choy as they would say.  Now, I love the babies in the family, these right here.  This is little baby bok choy.  These are fantastic!  This is not true baby bok choy, and I’ll tell you why.  See these stems?  These are a little bit green.  This means these are Shanghai bok choy.  True baby bok choy, this would be pure white.  Now let’s go back to our big bok choy.  You can use this in stir fries or soups.  How do you tell if it is good?  Two things.  Number one – the leaves had better be green and the white had better be white.  Those two things, you’ve got good bok choy.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, we’re starting our week on our adventure in the Asian section with bok choy.

NAPA CABBAGE (Tuesday, February 5): You know all this week I’ve got my adventure hat on.  We’re going on an adventure in the Asian food section down the produce aisle.  That’s because this is the year of the rat.  Chinese New Year begins this week. So we’re going to start today with cabbage.  Now most of us know this is green cabbage.  In fact, they use a lot of green cabbage in Asian cooking, but the primary cabbage used is right here.  This is Napa cabbage or Chinese cabbage.  Now there’s a couple things I want you to look for in this Chinese cabbage.  First of all, when you hold it in your hands just like so, it needs to stand up like a soldier.  If these outer leaves are kind of like limping down, that is not a very fresh Napa cabbage.  The next thing I’m going to do is I’m going to look at the cut end.  If this is all bruised – this can easily be bruised by mishandling, I’m not going to buy that either.  Then I’m going to turn it over and look at what we call the flower end or the blossom end.   I’m going to take a peek down there, and if there is any mod or decay, it’s going to start down there.  This looks really cool.  I’m going to use this for some Napa cabbage soup.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report…does your Napa cabbage stand up like a soldier? 

GINGER (Wednesday, February 6):  All this week we are on adventure in the Asian produce section of the produce department.  That’s because this week it’s Chinese New Year – the year of the rat.  Now today, it is the most used spice, yep, the most used spice in Asian cooking.  What would it be?  Oh, my goodness!  Oh, right here - ginger root.  Beautiful ginger root.  Now, there’s a couple things I want you to look for on your ginger root.  First of all, take a look at this one.  This one does not look very shiny does it?  The first thing I look for when I walk up to that ginger root section, I want to make sure that they are shiny.  Take a look at the shine on this.   Now I know, you’re not going to use this whole thing.  You say, “Mike, come on!  That’s like a half a pound of ginger.  I won’t use that in 10 years.”  Well, good thing the produce manager is really cool.  If you just need a little bit, you can just go up and break it.  When you break it, here’s what I want you to do.  Sniff it.  If you smell Hawaii in there…ginger, oh my goodness!  That is good!  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, they have a saying in Hawaii even for ginger root, “The hands tell the story.”

BEAN SPROUTS/CILANTRO (Thursday, February 7):  All right, everybody, Asian produce.  You’ve got to look at, of course, bean sprouts. Now there are a couple things I look for in bean sprouts whether its in a package or bulk.  I look right in there, and what you want to look for are the heads, the top of the bean sprouts.   If those little heads in there start turning brown and decaying, those are not very fresh bean sprouts, so I’m not going to buy them.  So I want to make sure all those tops are looking very, very fresh.  Now the most used spice yesterday, we had ginger root.   The most used herb in Asian cooking?  Are you ready for this?  Most of you think that this is the most used herb in Mexican cooking.  It is.  Cilantro.  It is also known as Chinese parsley for a reason.  This is the most used herb in Asian cooking.  Now, just like any other herb, the way you’re going to store this…see those bottoms right there? You’re going to cut off those bottoms.  You’re going to put this into a mug of water.  That mug of water goes into your refrigerator, and that cilantro is going to be really cool next time you need it for your Asian cooking.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, I’ve got the most used herb in Asian cooking – cilantro.
  
SLANT CUT (Friday, February 8):  Hey, Chinese New Year began yesterday, the year of the rat.  So all this week we have been going on an adventure down the produce aisle in the Asian food section.  We’ve had a lot of fun.  Now today I thought I’d talk about Asian cooking.  I know most of you know, you go into an Asian restaurant, and you look at all the vegetables, and they’re all what we call a slant cut.  Whether it is carrots or squash, whether it is asparagus or even your celery, it’s all a slant cut.  Now here is…this is a regular slice just like this.  See you all know what that is, and then you put that in your soups or stews.  Ah, ah, for Asian cooking we do it on a slant like this, and I’ll show you why.  Take a look at this.  When you do a slant cut versus a slice…take a look at these two slices.  See the slant cut right here?  There’s more cell structure exposed, and when you expose more cell structure in the cooking….Number one – it cooks faster. Number two - there’s a better burst of flavor when you eat it.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. 

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, why in Asian cooking do they always do a slant cut?

Top of page