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Wordless Wednesday: The ghost in the bark
21 Wednesday Mar 2012
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in21 Wednesday Mar 2012
Posted wordless wednesday
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09 Friday Mar 2012
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asian vegetables, chrysanthemum greens, Joy Larkcom, komatsuna, mustard, mustard greens, oriental greens, pak choi, RHS Rosemoor, shungiku, tatsoi, winter gardens
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Mustard ‘Golden Streaks’ |
This was a revelation. We’re used to oriental mizuna, mibuna and mustard spicing up our salads in winter. But they’re also excellent as mature leafy greens, a vegetable in their own right, cooked lightly – a little like spinach – or stir-fried, or used in soups. The flavour takes a little getting used to, as it’s spicier than our tastebuds usually allow (with a few exceptions).
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Shungiku |
Shungiku: leaves like chrysanthemums: not surprising, really, as that’s what they are. Its other name is chrysanthemum greens (chop suey greens is another alter ego). Sarah Raven describes the flavour as ‘strange, fragrant, slightly sweet and slightly peppery, with a good crunch’. You can eat leaves, the tight yellow flowerbuds and flowers – though petals only, not the bitter centres.
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Tatsoi ‘Yukina Savoy’ |
Tatsoi ‘Yukina Savoy’: big, puckered leaves of a deep, rumpled, velvety grey-green held up on strong, creamy stems. ‘Savoy’ describes the texture well: the leaves are thick, firm and meaty. Tatsoi and pak choi are often confused, and tatsoi is also known, just to be more confusing, as rosette pak choi: it has a similar combination of thick stem and leaves but grows in a rosette rather than that very distinctive pak choi fluted vase shape. The flavour is described as ‘strong’, but I think not peppery.
Cooking: recipes are – cautiously – finding their way into cookbooks. Pick the growth tips and dip in batter before deep-frying for tempura, or wilt large leaves in a tiny bit of water like spinach. Stir-fry in oil with spring onions, ginger and garlic; and cut thick stems into 10cm pieces, blanch in fast-boiling water for a minute or two, then stir-fry with a little sugar, ginger, rice wine vinegar and oyster sauce.
Joy Larkcom brought Asian greens to the UK and has written an excellent book on the subject (recently updated). But we all seem to have stopped at the baby-leaf stage. Oriental greens have so much more to offer: this year, I’m going to let them grow up.
07 Wednesday Mar 2012
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