Gai lan, also called Chinese broccoli or Chinese kale, is a leafy green brassica vegetable with thick, tender stalks, dark green leaves, and small white flower buds, grown and eaten across China and other parts of East and Southeast Asia. It has a slightly bitter, mustardy edge balanced by mild sweetness, with crisp stalks and tender leaves suited to quick, high-heat cooking. It is most often stir-fried whole or in cut lengths with garlic and oyster or soy sauce in Cantonese cooking, blanched or steamed as a simple side dish with oyster sauce, or used in braises and noodle soups. Gai lan should not be confused with broccolini, a milder-tasting hybrid bred by crossing gai lan with standard broccoli; broccolini has thinner stalks and small broccoli-like florets rather than gai lan's flower buds.