No, that's not a typo. Toona is no fish but the name of a Mahagoni tree. Its young leaves are edible and as I was to discover, yummy. They are only in season for a short time in spring, for obvious reasons :) the adult leaves are not recommended for eating anymore. So far, I've only had them with eggs. I'm hard pressed to describe the flavour... some people say it's onion-like, but I find it has none of the sharpness of onions. If anyone knows of another use, tell me quickly, before spring is over :)
梅干菜 Mei gan cai (dried mustard greens) has become another favourite of mine. I think similar salted preserved vegetables exist all over China, but I find the Jiangsu variety especially tasty. It's usually combined with meat - it's a perfect counterpart for slow-braised fat pork belly, or stuffed in steamed buns with some ground pork. Apart from being quite salty and having a very satisfying chewy texture, it's also quite umami (savory/meaty) or 鲜味 xian wei (literally just means good flavour), as the Chinese call it.
Some brain food as well: insightful discussion by Harvard faculty and alumni .
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