Choy sum or choi sum (Chinese: 菜心) literally means "vegetable heart" in Cantonese. While frequently used to describe edible stem of either of the two varieties of Chinese cabbage, usually the soft inner core of bok choy with the tougher outer leaves removed, the term can be applied to the "heart"–the soft core or flowering stem–of almost any vegetable such as kai-lan, including non-traditionally East Asian greens such as broccoli. Outside of China, the Cantonese spelling of choy sum is more common than the standard Mandarin pinyin spelling càixīn due to the greater influence of Cantonese cuisine in the West.
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Famous quotes containing the word sum:
“To die proudly when it is no longer possible to live proudly. Death freely chosen, death at the right time, brightly and cheerfully accomplished amid children and witnesses: then a real farewell is still possible, as the one who is taking leave is still there; also a real estimate of what one has wished, drawing the sum of one’s life—all in opposition to the wretched and revolting comedy that Christianity has made of the hour of death.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)