Fat choy
| Fat choy | |
|---|---|
| Nostoc flagelliforme under a microscope | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Kingdom: | Bacillati |
| Phylum: | Cyanobacteria |
| Class: | Cyanophyceae |
| Order: | Nostocales |
| Family: | Nostocaceae |
| Genus: | Nostoc |
| Species: | N. flagelliforme |
| Binomial name | |
| Nostoc flagelliforme | |
| Synonyms | |
| Fat choy | |||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 髮菜 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 发菜 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "hair vegetable" | ||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 頭毛菜 | ||||||||||||||
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Fat choy (traditional Chinese: 髮菜; simplified Chinese: 发菜; pinyin: fàcài; Jyutping: faat³ coi³; Nostoc flagelliforme) is a terrestrial cyanobacterium (a type of photosynthetic bacteria) that is used as a vegetable in Chinese cuisine. When dried, the product has the appearance of black hair. For that reason, its name in Chinese means "hair vegetable". When soaked, fat choy has a soft texture which is like very fine vermicelli.