• It is believed that there are two possible origins of the term “高丽菜”.
• One is related to the history of the Dutch East India Company and its colonisation of Southeast Asia and Taiwan in the 17th century. In Middle Dutch, cabbage was known as cole. The modern Mandarin term “高丽菜” (gāo lí cài) comes from the Hokkien term ko lay cai, which is a combination of the transliteration and a paraphrase of the Middle Dutch term.
• Another possible origin is related to “花椰菜” (cauliflower). In Singapore, cauliflower is also called “包菜花” (cabbage flower) because of its similarity in shape to cabbage. One translation used for “cauliflower” is “高丽花”, in which “高丽” is the transliteration of “cauli” and “花” is a paraphrase of “flower”. As cauliflower in Mandarin is known as both “包菜花” (cabbage flower) and “高丽花” (gāo lí flower), “包菜” (cabbage) is thus referred to as “高丽菜” (gāo lí vegetable).

包菜 (Mainland China)、玻璃菜、包心菜 (Taiwan)