Broccolini is a green vegetable not unlike broccoli with small florets and long, thin stalks. Although often misidentified as young broccoli, it is a cross between broccoli and kai-lan, Chinese broccoli. A natural hybrid of the cabbage family Brassica oleracea, it was developed by the Sakata Seed Company of Yokohama, Japan.

Broccolini's flavor is sweet, with notes of both broccoli and asparagus. Broccolini is a registered trademark of Mann Packing Company, Inc. Its generic name is baby broccoli with product look up number 3277.

It is also known by the names Asparation, Asparations, Bimi, and Tender Stem. Sanbon Incorporated originated a commercial program for asparation in Mexico in 1994 and first brought it to the U.S. market in 1996. Mann Packing Company introduced the new vegetable to the US market in 1998.

They grow the vegetable year round in California and Arizona. Today, you can find broccolini throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. The entire vegetable is consumable, including the occasional yellow flower.

Rather delicate, common cooking methods include sauteing, steaming, boiling, and stir frying. Nutritionally, broccolini is high in vitamin C but also contains vitamin A, calcium, folate and iron.

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