Star-Bulletin
Won bok is wonderful -- and cheap, too!

Won bok is a
winning proposition

Won bok -- available year-round -- is a seasonably, reasonably 49 cents a pound at IGH (Independent Grocers of Hawaii). Elsewhere, it's 58 cents at Daiei, 59 cents at Foodland, and 99 cents at Times.

Also known as Chinese cabbage, makina, napa cabbage, Peking cabbage and Chinese celery cabbage, won bok features thin, crisp and delicately mild leaves. The leaves readily absorb flavors and their sweet, pleasant taste make the cabbage a favorite match for foods with rich flavors.

Do not boil the rather fragile cabbage; slow, gentle cooking brings out its sweetness.

Every part of this versatile cabbage can be used -- in soups, stir-fries, and casseroles as a foil for rich meats. Steam, saute or bake won bok. Braise it with chestnuts, use it raw in salads or pickle it, as for kim chee.

Won bok varieties have been cultivated for more than 1,500 years because they're good sources of vitamin A, potassium, folic acid and fiber. Choose firm, tightly packed heads with crisp, celadon-green-tipped leaves.

It keeps for a week or more, minus some vitamin C, loosely wrapped in plastic in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator.

Other produce best buys include Island Fresh zucchini for 99 cents a pound at Foodland, and $1.19 at Safeway; and asparagus for $1.98 a pound at Daiei, and $1.99 at Star.

Pick pork at $1.09 a pound for frozen butt at Star, and $1.69 at Foodland. Fresh pork loin chops are $1.97 a pound for Foodland Maika'i Club members ($2.49 for nonmembers), while boneless country-style spareribs are $2.28 at Daiei.