What Vegetable Is Di Cai? A Guide to Getting to Know Di Cai

Di cai is what we commonly call shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris), a wild plant with rich medicinal value. The harvest time for di cai is from March to May every year, and after harvesting it can be stir-fried, served as a cold salad, and so on, or used as medicine to treat dysentery, edema, gonorrhea, and so on.

Ways to eat di cai:

1. Cold salad. Blanch di cai (whole) and carrots (shredded) briefly in boiling water, and soak shao fen (sweet potato starch noodles) in boiling water until soft. Add salt, vinegar, mashed garlic, sesame oil, or chili oil, or Sichuan peppercorn oil.

2. Stir-fry. Blanch di cai (whole) briefly in boiling water first, drain the water, then stir-fry in oil. It can also be stir-fried together with other vegetables or meat.

3. Savory pancakes. Chop di cai and scallions, beat raw eggs, add ground meat, clean water, flour, and a small amount of salt, stir well, and once the oil is hot, it can be pan-fried until golden brown on both sides.

4. Make dumplings, wontons, or steamed buns. First blanch the whole di cai briefly in boiling water, squeeze out the water (do not pour this water away; after it cools, it is best for kneading dough, or for cooking dumplings and wontons), chop finely, add a small amount of salt (if eating vegetarian, also add sesame oil and thirteen-spice powder), and mix well together with the ground meat filling.

5. Eat raw. Choose tender, fresh ones, dip them in seasoning or soybean paste and roll them in a large flatbread to eat; they also go very well with rice.

In addition, in the Hunan region, on the third day of the third lunar month, shepherd's purse is always used to boil eggs; people eat the eggs and also drink the water they were boiled in.