Commitments

I can’t imagine eating up to three pounds of raw pechay daily. I’ve never really had to, at least not until I read this four-month-old news report.

Apparently, eating too much pechay (or bok choy) can kill you. The victim had hoped that a daily regimen of the leafy cabbage would help her manage her diabetes. That’s the sensible part; I would have been surprised had she done so for the taste. Raw and unseasoned pechay tastes flat — which isn’t really a taste, but bitter is, and its bitterness, however slight, I do not find particularly appealing, even when tempered by cooking and seasoning. This, from someone who loves ampalaya (bitter gourd).

It’s not that I hate pechay. I am what you would call uncommitted, the way I’m uncommitted to, say, John Grisham: I read his books, but I don’t go out of my way to buy them. Serve me pechay and I’ll help myself to some, simply because it’s there. I never said it was that unappealing.

It is as a cook that I really appreciate this vegetable: it cooks fast, you have a dish in under five minutes — and that includes the prep work. Heat up a bit of oil, throw in some slivers of garlic and sliced onion, followed by the chopped pechay stalks. Sauté for a minute before adding the leaves and 4 tablespoons of stock (chicken or vegetable) mixed with a teaspoon of oyster or soy sauce and a pinch of sugar. Stir for 30 seconds until leaves are wilted, season to taste, and serve. Fast, like I said. If you want it any faster, you can always eat it raw.

Gotcha.

Seriously, raw’s fine. The key is moderation. If you didn’t bother to read the story linked above, the culprit was an enzyme in pechay that had been reported to prevent cancer in small doses, but toxic in large doses. How large? Let’s see… The report said that the binge lasted several months. So how many qualify as several? Two make a couple. Three? Now that’s a crowd. Or a few, which, I’m sure you’ll agree, is less than several. Four? Fair enough. It could be more, but you get the idea.

Okay: 4 * 30 * 3 — months times days times pounds — gives you… 360 pounds of cabbage! That’s not just many. Or even plenty. Pardon my French, but that’s a fucking lot. All that, just to manage diabetes. Is that sick, or what? She would have done much better, i.e., still been alive, giving the same level of commitment to psychotherapy. I hear it actually works.