Price range: £2.25 through £55.00
Very hardy, green, leafy vegetable from Japan. Pick young for microgreens or salad leaves or allow to grow on for spinach leaves for braising, boiling or stir-fry.
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Komatsuna, Green
Latin name Brassica rapa var. perviridis
Approximately 450 seeds per g
Oriental vegetables have revolutionised winter salad production. As their name suggests they come from China and Japan. Being brassica, or cabbage family, the plants are very cold tolerant making them ideal for our autumn and winter months. It also means that some of the varieties have that hot, mustard kick to them. The variation in leaf, colour, shape and texture make them perfect for mixed salad and they are very quick growing too. Most varieties are cut and come again salads while some can also be stir fried.
Komatsuna, also known as mustard spinach, has large green leaves which are similar to turnip leaves. The spicy flavour increases as the plants mature. They are very quick to grow. Young leaves can be picked for salads while the more mature leaves can be lightly cooked. The leaves are high in vitamin A and C and also calcium.
How to grow:
Sow March until September in open ground. Prepare the soil and sprinkle the seeds over or grow in drills. Thin as necessary. You can use the thinnings in salad or as garnish. Plants may bolt in very hot weather so you may need to avoid mid summer sowings. Later sowings can be grown undercover.
Harvest young leaves three to four weeks after planting and cut larger leaves frequently as required.
Pests and diseases:
Protect the plants from slugs with an environmentally friendly method. Flea beetle may also be a problem. You can protect the plants from flea beetle using fine mesh.
How to cook:
Komatsuna can be eaten raw in salads or stir fried. In Japan it is used as a versatile green vegetable, much like spinach is. You can search for recipes that use Komatsuna like this one for Nibitashi. A vegetable side dish where komatsuna is steeped in a flavoured broth.
Wash 300g of komatsuna and cut into 4cm long pieces. Cut a block of tofu, (Aburaage), into 1 cm strips. Heat 120 ml of dashi in a saucepan with 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1.5 teaspoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of sake and 2 tablespoons of mirin. Add the komatsuna and tofu and cook for just a few minutes until the komatsuna has softened. Cover and cool completely so the flavours are absorbed. Serve at room temperature. Dashi is a Japanese stock containing fish, you can make it with mushrooms for a vegetarian version.