Edible plant - vegetable determination

My searched info as follows:

It could be purslane (mǎ-chǐ-xiàn 马齿苋.) Usually it is used as filling in baozi (山蚂蚱菜包子). To eat it as salad, you need to blanch it with boiling water and shock it with iced cold water. Extra sesame oil on top of the other dressing.

I wonder if people eat it outside of China?

Thanks @albeamer for your kind effort, but unfortunately, it was not purslane. I would knew it because in my country (Croatia) we eat it prepared in different ways. This is just one of tens different recipes for purslane: https://www.coolinarika.com/slika/674229/ . You would not believe, but purslane that is harvested before flowering is almost always eaten raw with addition of some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Purslane has smooth leaves and the plant/vegetable I ate in Datong had slightly hairy leaves.

let me try

i think maybe is crown daisy or,Chrysanthemum,chinese name is 茼蒿菜（tong hao ),Your text to link here...

The plant #3 mentions is this one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glebionis_coronaria

Really, thanks to all of you. Now, when I look at the photos ( http://recipesfortom.blogspot.hr/2012/02/shungiku-garland-chrysanthemum.html , https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/shungiku-known-tong-hao-edible-chrysanthemum-697247215?src=Xu9O373C4KQ7a_xv0zcxlQ-1-17 ) and especially when I see this plant/vegetable as a side dish or an ingredient to some of the dishes I become more and more confident that the plant I was so hardly tried to determine is really a plant called, by its scientific name, Glebionis Coronaria or popularly edible chrysanthemum.

As far as I remember it was raw, but maybe it was, in reality, slightly boiled. I really cannot claim anything because I simply missed to inform myself about this wonderful vegetable that made my breakfasts so exalted although the offer of the buffet was delicious including extremely tasty judas ear mushrooms. The only thing that still confuses me is the fact that I realize, at least on photos, that edible chrysanthemum is smooth and the vegetable that I ate was slightly hairy on its leaves. Well, now I cannot be quite certain any more if I am right about that.

I will conclude that I ate edible chrysanthemum and I declare it as one of the details of the Chinese cuisine that should be definitely tasted while visiting this country. Once again, thanks to all of you.

ah..edible chrysanthemum, poster#3 got it right.

The variety of tong hao I have seen seemed to have a bit of soft hairs, especially near the edges. I believe it is more available in the southern regions, such as Fujian and Guangdong. I first encountered it in the 90’s when the Guangzhou restaurants provided it as the vegetable accompanying meats for a hot-pot meal. We drank the soup with tong hoa at the end.

My Beijing friends said they consider the soup from the hot-pot has too much toxin and never drink the soup. But, that’s another story.

Again, thanks to all of you. It could be edible chrysanthemum, but recently I have received a hint that it was maybe specifically prepared squash (pumpkin) leaves (stems). According to some internet sources: http://www.southernexposure.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Aug2014-58-squash-shoots-small.jpg or http://poorandglutenfree.blogspot.hr/2013/08/what-to-do-with-squash-leaves-and-stems.html , it seems it could be true.

Anyway, the key problem is that the squash (pumpkin) leaves (stems) are prepared sautéed or in the soups and I still remember that the taste of the vegetable I ate was crisp and juicy (refreshing). The latter seems to be in almost irreconcilable opposition to the processes of sautéing and cooking. Maybe it was so prepared that it somehow retained its crispy consistency, who knows!? Now, I still remain in doubts, but never mind because I have learned quite a lot concerning different vegetables used in Chinese cuisine and this was the very first information that the leaves (stems) of squash (pumpkin) are edible!

Yes, yes, yes, I have identified my plant, my first class vegetable :-)!

I was eating and was amazed by Crystal Ice Plant (scientific name: Mesembryanthemum Crystallinum). In China it is called 冰草 (Bīng cǎo), literally translated as Ice grass. Indeed, this is not originally Chinese plant (vegetable), but its original habitat is Africa, Sinai peninsula and parts of Southern Europe. Anyway, it has found its dominant culinary use in China and probably several more Asian countries. Here you can see the plant:

https://www.google.hr/search?q=%E5%86%B0%E8%8D%89&rlz=1C1EODB_enHR549HR568&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNopDuo63XAhUSGuwKHa2uAScQ_AUICigB&biw=1024&bih=715

Anyone visiting China should try to taste this plant preferably raw or prepared in several ingenious Chinese ways. A true discovery!

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