Water spinach, Chinese water spinach, water convolvulus, morning glory, swamp morning glory, swamp cabbage, swamp spinach, ong choy (and other Chinese and Hawaiian variations), kang kong/kangkung (and other Indonesian/Malaysian/Philippine variations), pak bung (Thai), rau muong (Vietnamese)
(Ipomoea aquatica— Family Convolvulaceae)
Not a true spinach, this vegetable is more closely related to the sweet potato, and can vary greatly in appearance. It has long, flat, arrow-shaped leaves with thin hollow stems. Cultivated in both waterways and fields, it is valued for its crunchy stems. The Vietnamese often split the pale green stems lengthwise and soak them in water, which makes them curl into little corkscrews used for decoration. Water spinach is cultivated in the tropics of Asia year round, but not exported because of its poor keeping properties. For this reason, it is almost unknown in many Western countries, although it is cultivated under glass in such places as Holland, Britain, and the US. Water spinach can be eaten raw; but it is usually prepared like ordinary spinach, which it resembles in taste. It is often used as flavouring for soups in China. There are two forms available in Asian markets. The main one has firm, tight, tubular, foot long scallion-green stems and narrow arrow-shaped leaves. The second form has a wider, softer, celery-pale stem. The leaves of both taste like a mild spinach with an extra touch of acidity and slipperiness. The stems resemble drinking straws, and are crisp and faintly fibrous with a gentle “green” flavour and a tart tinge.
Tendergreen, mustard spinach, spinach mustard
(Brassica perviridis – Family Cruciferae [Brassicaceae])
This green is originally from, and now mostly cultivated in, Northern China, Japan, and Korea. This leaf cabbage has also been cultivated on a small scale in the southern US for the last fifty years or so. It does not keep well. One variety, called “Komatsuna”, was probably the result of a crossing between Chinese cabbage and bok choi with the turnip. The leaves are gray-green and smooth, with an unbroken margin. Like spinach, it can be briefly boiled, eaten raw, or served au gratin. In Japan, the turnip or tuber-shaped roots are also eaten.
Malabar spinach, Malabar nightshade, Indian spinach, vine spinach, slippery vegetable, Ceylon spinach
saan choi (and other Chinese variations), poi (Indian), brèdes (Caribbean French)
(Basella alba or B. rubra – Family Basellaceae)
Malabar spinach is not related to the common spinach, but rather to two tubers, Ulluco
and Madeira vine.
It is a plant that produces succulent shoots and leaves that are rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals. The taste is mild and pleasant, but the slimy consistency of the cooked vegetable turns off Westeners. Ceylon spinach is a variety of Malabar spinach and comes from East Asia; and, since it does not keep well, it is rarely exported, but rather, grown in a few greenhouses in Holland. The stems and leaves regrow continuously after picking, and in the tropics can be harvested for up to 180 days. Indian spinach is named after its country of origin, producing round or oval dark green leaves that grow on succulent shoots up to twenty feet long. Malabar spinach is prolific and commonly grown as an annual or biennial. The bright red juice from the fruits is used as a food colouring by the Chinese, especially. The leaves are mucilaginous and often used in Asia as an ingredient for soup, including the Chinese “slippery soup” or as an herb for stews. The green leaves retain their colour when cooked, but the red forms quickly lose much of their pigment. Although the leaves have a very mild flavour, the stems, which are also mucilaginous when cooked, tend to be somewhat bitter.
Spoonwort, scurvy grass, scorbute grass
(Cochlearia officinalis – Family Cruciferae [Brassicaceae])
Spoonwort is frequently found growing wild in the coastal regions of Northern and Western Europe. It has shiny, spoon-shaped, fleshy, dark green leaves and a very peppery flavour. In many areas of Germany, England, and France, it is referred to as “scurvy grass” because of its high vitamin C content and refers to its former use as a preventative against the disease.
Perilla, shiso, beefsteak plant
(Perilla frutescens – Family Labiatae)
Native to the Himalayan region as far as China and Mynamar, the perilla has long been cultivated throughout Asia and southern Europe. It has been valued or its high-yielding oil, a seasonal herb, as well as a medicinal, aromatic, and ornamental plant. The entire plant may be used in a variety of ways. In China, Korea, and Japan, the young flowers, leaves, and seeds are popular foods. The buds and seeds are used as condiments. Shiso leaves may be green or reddish-purple and used in Japan as a food colouring for pickled fruits and vegetables. The green variety serves as a condiment or garnish. The sprouts can come in both colours and can be used like any other sprouted vegetable.
Buck’s horn plantain, barba di frate (Italy)
(Plantago coronopus – Family Plantaginaceae)
Plantago is the most important genus of the plantain family. The plantain “weed” is well-known to gardeners in temperate climates, and a few species are used for medicinal purposes. The buck’s horn plantain is cultivated in Italy as a salad plant and only very occasionally exported. This plant is not widely used as a vegetable, except in Italy. The long, grass-like leaves are used as a salad ingredient and have a taste similar to spinach.
Pokeberry, pokeweed, skoke
(Phytolacca americana – Family Phytolaccaceae)
This North American species was introduced into Europe in the 18th century, but is now cultivated in the Mediterranean and India. The juice is used to make alcoholic beverages, as well as in baked goods. The young shoot tips and leaves are eaten as an asparagus-like vegetable. Pokeweed juice is used in Mediterranean countries and India to colour foods. It is also grown as an ornamental.
Japanese greens: mizuna, mibuna, komatsuna
(Brassica species)
Mizuna
is a mustard variety that has a mild, but refreshing, nip when young and a potent bite when older. Originally from China, it is now considered a Japanese green because it has been cultivated there for centuries.
Mibuna
is another mustard very similar to mizuna, but milder and juicier. It has tender, pearly stems and thin sorrel-shaped leaves.
Komatsuna
is also a mustard-type spinach or tendergreen from the Perviridis Group and can be used like any other green, but keeping in mind that its tiny mustard nip is best appreciated with other milder tasting greens. Its large, thick, oval leaves and slim, juicy stalks attach at the base like spinach. It is a very mild and juicy spinach that is crossed with bok choy, a close relative, producing a “green” with characteristics from both, but being decidedly its own vegetable.
Nettle, stinging nettle
(Urtica dioica – Family Urticaceae)
Nettle is a very useful plant, but most people stay clear of it because of the irritation that it can cause. Coming in contact with the plant produces a prickly rash caused by a substance called formic acid, which stinging ants also possess. Used for more than 3,000 years as a fiber, medicine, and healer, nettles are more than just weeds to many countries, including Japan, Australia, Iran, Sweden, Great Britain, and Italy, as well as France where it has its own annual celebration called the Ortiefolies (ortie means nettle in French). For most Americans, however, it remains a noxious weed, except in the eyes of popular chefs and herbalists.
Sea Aster
(Aster tripolium – Family Compositae [Asteraceae])
Sea aster is a perennial that can reach a height of almost forty inches. It grows wild in coastal areas from Europe via North Africa to Central Asia and Japan. Its narrow fleshy leaves are gathered between April and June and are served as a vegetable side dish. It is typical of the seaside and salt-marsh flora. Only young leaves are gathered in the period prior to their flowering, which makes the leaves tough and tasteless. The sea aster is beginning to be cultivated on a limited basis in some European countries.
Samphire, Salicornia, Sea bean, marsh samphire, glasswort, sea asparagus, poussepied, poussepierre, chicken claws, sea pickle, pickleweed
(Salicornia europaea – Family Chenopodiaceae)
Two unrelated and very different Old World plants share the Samphire name. One is a member of the Goosefoot family (S. europaea) and related to beets, chard, and quinoa. The other is Crithmum maritimum, known as rock samphire and sea fennel, a fleshy member of the Umbellifer (Apiaceae) family. Although totally unrelated, they do share common characteristics as well as the name. Both are edible, especially in England and France, where they grow wild along the seacoast and marshes.
Salicornia means salty horn, which aptly describes the pointy, salty twigs of this unusual vegetable. Glasswort came about as a result of it being burned to provide alkali in the manufacture of soda glass. Samphire and some other close relatives particularly thrive around estuaries, where all the mineral and trace elements are washed down from the highlands. These are abundant in soda and were harvested, dried, and then burned. The ash (sometimes called barilla) was used in the production of glass. Sea bean is a recent invention, and chicken claws is the reference to its jointed branchlets that take on a birdlike form.
Samphire is another story. Samphire is a leafless plant with dark green or reddish branching stalks that look and taste like seaweed. In fact, it is sometimes mistakenly sold as a seaweed, even though it is a marsh plant native to the coastal areas of Northwest Europe. It is usually gathered, and very rarely cultivated, and only the young tender plants are suitable for eating. It has a salty, crisp texture and flavour. The plant should be harvested by breaking or snapping off the stems and not by pulling up the whole plant, which destroys it.
Salicornia is cultivated in Mexico. Its taste is equally intense as that of the wild form. In the wild, it is sold mainly in the summer. By fall, it may redden and develop a tough fibrous central filament, but can still be braised or steamed.
Rock samphire, sea fennel
(Crithmum maritimum – Family Apiaceae)
Rock samphire is considered to be the more important of the samphires, and grows on rocky shores. Known as the true samphire, the rock samphire originated in the Mediterranean region. It is a small woody shrub with long, thin, fleshy leaves which have a powerful resinous aroma that is reminiscent of varnish or sulfurous. Whichever, neither inspires the thought of consumption. However, this undesirable aroma disappears when it is pickled and made into a tasty relish. Both the Greeks and the Romans used it raw in salads, and lightly steamed it for use as a vegetable. In the 1st century CE, Pliny wrote that Theseus had eaten it before leaving to fight the Minotaur. The pickled form was once so popular that men risked their lives to collect it from the cliffs. Robert Turner wrote of such adventures in 1664 on the cliffs of the Isle of Wight. By the 19th century, this popularity had waned only because of its scarcity.
Chrysanthemum greens, garland chrysanthemum, edible or cooking chrysanthemum, crown daisy, chop suey vegetable
shungiku and kikuna (Japanese), ssukat and variations (Korean), tung hao and variations (Chinese)
(Chrysanthemum coronarium – Family Compositae)
This is an aromatic, fast-growing plant and one of the most popular vegetables in East and Southeast Asia. The leaves and shoots are added to soups, or cooked and served as a side dish. Its distinctively hot, flowery taste is shown to its best advantage in salads or as a garnish. In Japan, the flowers are also eaten. There are many decorative chrysanthemums in several species and forms, but the edible ones come from the coronarium species and originated in the Mediterranean.
Unlike many other vegetables of this nature, Asian countries adopted it only after it had spread through Europe and Africa, and then into Asia. Resembling the decorative chrysanthemum in looks and scent – which is something like a mix of tomato plant, pine, and autumn foliage – this vegetable is pungent and intensely bitter. Traditionally, it is served in soups, sukiyaki, and other brothy dishes or cooled to be served as a vegetable salad or condiment. The leaves can be used sparingly to perk up salads or added to stir fries.
