Yeoh Sim Joo's carrot

. . . 本地華文報刊經常提到「紅蘿蔔」，其實就是「胡蘿蔔」。原來作者馮京當馬涼，錯把紅蘿蔔當胡蘿蔔。胡蘿蔔英文叫carrot，而紅蘿蔔只是外面一層紅色，裡面是白的，與胡蘿蔔不同。兔子吃的是胡蘿蔔，不是紅蘿蔔。蘿蔔本來是白的，冠以「白」是多此一舉 . . .

Yeoh Sim Joo 楊欣儒 (2021) Hong-luobo is not Hu-luobo 「紅蘿蔔」不是「胡蘿蔔」in Oriental Daily, 9 May 2021. In the article, only the first paragraph is packed with bullshits, other paragraphs are perfectly legit and crafted with real information.

勥就好，莫假勥。

Khiàng tiō hó, mái ké-khiàng: Just be smart, don't be a smartass.

At a café somewhere in Jalan Bakri, the Hu 胡 clan gathered for their annual CNY summit. The waiter came. Without consultation and without dissent, all of the Hus ordered carrot juice. Orange cleared its throat. “Comrades, I have a branding issue. In Malaya, I am called âng-tshài-thâu 紅菜頭 by the Hokkien people.” Purple adjusted its spectacles. “Historically, we were the aristocracy. Afghanistan, Persia, Silk Road glamour. Then you Dutch arrivistes standardized yourself in the 16th century and monopolized the visual field. Don’t blame Hokkien philology for your chromatic ambiguity.” Yellow nodded. “Also, in Sinitic color logic, ‘red’ is a political category, not a Pantone sample.” Red leaned back smugly. “Frankly, I feel appropriated.” White sipped slowly. “In Chinese, radish is 蘿蔔. We are taxonomically adjacent enough.” Orange protested. “But I was perfected in the heroic laboratories of Dutch growers! I am modernity incarnate!” Purple raised an eyebrow. “You are beta-tested aristocracy rebranded as nationalism.” Yellow added, looking at Orange, “When the Hokkien speakers first saw me and Red in China, they called us 紅菜頭 and 黃菜頭, and when they encountered you in Malaya, they named you with Red's label since it was the nearest available category. Language economizes.” Red smirked. “In other words, you’re red enough for government work.” White concluded, “Also, consider this: Hokkien naming conventions prioritize contrast over spectral precision. You were the vividly warm-colored root among pale ones. ‘Red’ functions as markedness.” Orange slumped. “So I’m not misnamed?” Purple patted it gently. “You are historically situated.” Yellow grinned. “Besides, without the misnomer, you wouldn’t have existential angst. And without existential angst, you’d just be a salad ingredient.” The bill arrived. It was itemized as: 1 × 紫菜頭 (RM 7.50) 1 × 黃菜頭 (RM 7.50) 1 × 紅菜頭 (RM 7.50) 1 × 白菜頭 (RM 7.50) 1 × 紅菜頭 (RM 7.50). Orange stared at it. “See?” said Red. “Even the café agrees.”

The vice-president of the Chinese Language Standardization Council of Malaysia seems unaware that carrots come in a variety of colors, purple, red, orange, yellow, and even bluish-white. As a Malaysian, it is inconceivable that he wouldn’t know that carrots are called lobak merah لوبق ميره in Malay. Equally, he must be aware that Hokkien-speaking mothers refer to the root as âng-tshài-thâu 紅菜頭, literally red daikon, and that Cantonese-speaking mothers call it the golden shoot 金笋. These names clearly indicate that the varieties first encountered by populations in Southern China must necessarily include the red and yellow variant.

The earliest domesticated carrots, grown in Afghanistan and Central Asia around the 10th century, were far from orange. Purple and yellow varieties were particularly common throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. The familiar orange carrot, the one Yeoh likely knows best, is actually a much later development when Dutch horticulturists in the 16th century began their selective breeding experiments to develop this now-iconic variety.

Their first goal was to achieve uniform color and sweetness. Orange carrots were sweeter and more visually appealing (at least to the Dutch) than purple or red varieties. The second goal was related to political symbolism. The orange color was associated with the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau, and promoting orange carrots became a subtle patriotic act. Through careful selection of yellow and red carrot varieties, Dutch growers gradually developed a stable deep orange carrot, which became the dominant variety in Europe.

Time Period	Location	Colour
Pre-900s	Afghanistan and vicinity	Purple and yellow
900s	Iran and northern Arabia	Purple, red and yellow
1000s	Syria and North Africa	Purple, red and yellow
1100s	Spain	Purple and yellow
1200s	Italy and China	Purple and red
1300s	France, Germany, The Netherlands	Red, yellow and white
1400s	England	Red and white
1500's	Northern Europe	Orange, yellow and red
1600s	Japan	Purple and yellow
1600s	North America	Orange and white
1700s	Japan	Orange and red

Between 17th and 18th centuries, orange carrots spread across Europe and eventually replaced many of the older purple and white varieties because of their appealing color and taste. With the rise of maritime supply chain in the 19th century, orange carrots became the global standard, including in the Americas and Asia. Today, orange carrots are the most common worldwide, though traditional purple, red, yellow, and white varieties are still grown in specialty and heirloom gardens.