择菜 (zháicài): to pick the edible parts of veg…

Meanings

1 to pick the edible parts of vegetables
2 to trim vegetables (remove bad leaves, roots, etc.)

Characters

择

zhái

to pick out; to sort (colloquial)

菜

cài

vegetable

Examples

奶奶坐在门口择菜。

Nǎinai zuò zài ménkǒu zháicài.

Grandma sits at the doorway trimming vegetables.

择菜、洗菜、切菜,一步都不能少。

Zháicài, xǐcài, qiēcài, yī bù dōu bù néng shǎo.

Trim, wash, chop — not a single step can be skipped.

Tips

usage

择 has two readings: literary 'zé' (to choose, as in 选择) and colloquial 'zhái' when used for sorting food — CC-CEDICT gives 择菜 as zhái cài. It's the prep step before washing: picking off wilted leaves, peeling tough stems, snapping off roots.