Kickstart This: Chinese Vegetables Trading Cards

A little over a year ago we featured The Illustrated Wok, a brilliant cookbook from the feverish foodie minds at The Cleaver Quarterly. Here’s what we wrote about them then: “Cleaver launched three years ago in Beijing — also on the back of a successful Kickstarter — and has since consistently pumped out visually dense print mags with stories about “dumpling rappers” and “authentic Beijing tacos” every three months.”

So that was last year’s Christmas present sorted for your China-curious friends and family, but what to do this year? Well, the Cleaver crew has got you covered there too, courtesy of their Vegetables of China trading cards. Seems like the natural next step.

Here’s where they’re going with this:

A set of 52 pocket-sized cards, each depicting a classic Chinese vegetable: leafy greens, legumes, aromatics, aquatic plants, roots, gourds, fungi, edible flowers. The back of the cards spell out how these ingredients are traditionally eaten in China and include tips for home cooks on how to make the most of each vegetable’s unique shape, texture, flavors and nutritional content. Think of this colorful deck as a delightfully portable vegetable dictionary of the plant-based diet that has kept Chinese civilization humming for centuries.

Sure, but what do they look like? Well, like the image at the top of this page obviously, but here’s a video for a closer look and some serving suggestions:

If that has you itching to throw money at the project, here’s where to back it:

—

Related:

“The Illustrated Wok” is Kickstarting Fun Chinese Cooking Animations Into Your Life

Article Sep 05, 2017

Book Excerpt: Jia Sixie’s Scrambled Eggs from The Illustrated Wok

Article Feb 01, 2018

John Cena Loves Lao Gan Ma Chili Sauce

WWE star John Cena shows off his Mandarin skills and love for Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, weeks after the Guizhou-founded brand caused a stir at New York Fashion Week

Article Sep 28, 2018