The edible chrysanthemum, or whatever you choose to call it, is an acquired taste! Along side cardoons, it's something I love to grow in the vegetable garden but never get round to eating! I'm clearing the overgrown vegetable beds this week, putting the bolted lettuces and gone-to-seed spinach on the compost heap and planning to sow late summer/autumn salad crops and vegetables. The row of edible chrysanthemums has grown tall and they are covered with pretty two-tone yellow flowers - also edible. My use of this plant this year has been restricted to grazing the odd leaf and petal while I'm gardening. I really must do better than that, so this morning I've re-read the 'Chrysanthemum Greens' chapter in Joy Larkcom's book 'Oriental Vegetables'. It brought back memories of the neat little bundles of leaves in the Japanese vegetable markets - and being Japan there are many variations of leaf type - no doubt each has a particular attribute suited to a particular use. Joy advises that once the flowers open the leaves taste more bitter (how very true!) and the leaves and young shoots should be harvested when they are young and fresh and she says "for a supply of exceptionally tender young leaves, successive sowings can be made at 2-3 week intervals" - no wonder the seed is sold in generously large packets!
So, if anyone has a favourite recipe using shungiku (or tong hao or chop suey greens or whatever your local name for chrysanthemum coronarium is) I've love to hear about it.
I don't have a recipe but I like the flowers!!
ReplyDeleteAre all chrysanthemums edible? I have planted quite a few, bought mainly from the stand outside the secret garden.
ReplyDeleteWe have a friend who is half Japanese, I will ask her for recipes.
Quoting what I put on my blog in response to your comments:
ReplyDeleteShungiku tends to be favoured by the older folk since it is quite bitter. Usually destined for nabe towards the end. I’ll ask the mother-in-law if there are some different ways of preparing it. It could be that the younger stems and leaves aren’t that bad.
In any case, it is good for compost - I spent the best part of a week chopping stacks of it up and it was done in a matter of weeks. Watch this space...
kate - the flowers do look very cheerful among other veg and insects like them too
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to hear what you find from your japanese friends, Cottage Smallholder and Adekun
I don't think I'd eat ornamental chrysanthemum leaves or petals - they probably aren't poisonous but I think they would be even more bitter than these!
I was keen to try lots of unusual ingredients on my trip to Japan but I don't think I ate Shungiko. I think the plants I have now are destined for compost soon - maybe I'll leave the roots in the ground and see if they reshoot (as that is how growers of the ornamental Chrysanthemum's rear cuttings for new plants).
I can't read japanese characters - but I have worked out that the 2 large characters on the right are "shungiku" - can anyone translate the rest for me?
ReplyDeleteI've done some more research about edible chrysanthemum's - they are a quintessential ingredient in Oyster Omelettes. I'm learning something new about these little leaves every day!
The seed pack reads kiwama nakaba shungiku. I have no idea what it means. 中 (naka or chu) means middle so it could refer to the height or leaf size.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteChungiku is used in Sukiyaki as far as I know.
So if you look at Japaneese Sukiyaki you'll see this ingredient.
As for me, as I love Sukiyaki, i can't think of it without Chungiku.
That's why i am looking for seeds, and this got me on your blog. I cant find it in asians grocery shops here in france.
Basically Sukiyaky is a cooking wok on the table, where you use put some ingredients in the cooking plate and then you get them in a bowl with an raw egg where you dip and eat: ingredients are soy sauce, water ands sugar for sukiyaki sauce, then Toffu, chungiku, shitake mushrooms and very thin slices of beef.
BTW, where did you get the seeds from? :D
Francois.
Hello Francois
ReplyDeleteThat recipe sounds delicious - lots of real Japanese flavours!
I bought my seeds in Japan - I havn't seen them for sale in the UK. You have reminded me to sow some more in my garden, and I will try to save some seeds from the plants.
Celia
You can buy seeds in the US at www.rareseeds.com. That's where I got mine, but I guess I missed the part on harvesting while they are small, but I'll try the flowers as an edible garnish.
ReplyDeleteThese are good, I just got done eating some in a japanese hot pot with noodles (nabe udon). Taste like carrot greens to me. No bitterness, kind of soily, or earthy tasting.
ReplyDeleteWe grew some last year, but didn't really take to our soil in Utah.
On a side note, the flowers are used as herbal tea as well.