Name: Mizuna, also called Japanese mustard greens or kyona (Brassica rapa var. nipposinica) — a leafy vegetable with long, feathery, deeply serrated, bright green leaves and slender white stalks, with a mild, slightly peppery flavour.
Description
Mizuna is native to Japan, where it has been grown for centuries, and the name means “water greens,” because it was traditionally grown in fields irrigated with water. It is hardy, fast-growing and tolerates cold, which is why it has become popular with salad growers in Europe and North America.
The flavour is milder than mustard greens, a gentle peppery cabbage taste with a hint of sweetness, and the texture is crisp, with feathery leaves that add height to salads. It is a common ingredient in Japanese hot pots (nabe), and in mixed salad leaves.
Main nutrition value
Mizuna provides vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin A, folate and calcium, for very few calories.
How best to be consumed
Mizuna is tender enough to eat raw, and also cooks quickly.
- Add young leaves to mixed salads, for a peppery lift.
- Add to hot pots, noodle soups and stir-fries in the last minute.
- Wilt into pasta, omelettes and rice dishes.
- Pickle the stalks, as in Japanese pickles.
- Store unwashed in the fridge and use within a few days.
Overconsumption could cause…
Mizuna is safe and healthy in food amounts.
- Possible effects on warfarin and similar blood-thinning medicines because of the high vitamin K content, so keep intake steady rather than avoiding them.
- Bloating and gas from the fibre and fermentable carbohydrates in brassica greens.
- Possible effects on thyroid function in people with an underactive thyroid or iodine deficiency if very large amounts are eaten raw, since brassicas contain goitrogens; normal cooked servings are fine.
- Foodborne illness from poorly washed leaves, so rinse well, especially bagged and ready-to-eat salad.
Wikipedia — Mizuna, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuna
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