Shungiku

I like to grow new edibles each year on my allotment so the result of my experiment this year is edible chrysanthemum.  I grew it from seed from the collection by James Wong; the great ethnobotanist that always has fascinating facts about plants.  Seems that these seeds no longer are available via the James Wong collection but you can get them at Nicky's Nursery. These chrysanthemum greens or shungiku in Japan or tong hao in China are used all over Asia including Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan.  In Japan they are mostly used in winter hot pot dishes such as nabemono (nabe meaning pot and mono meaning stuff), particularly the sukiyaki. The taste is bitter, astringent and floral and it definitely a vegetable to have a little of and as an accompaniment to other parts to the dish. 

Shungiku or Edible Chrysanthemum

I also wanted to use by radishes that I had growing ... had this French breakfast variety growing on my allotment that would be just perfect for the dish I had planned.

Radishes growing

Though I would have liked to have tried a nabemono dish I thought that if I made the shungiku into an accompaniment dish I could always have a taste of the shungiku without ruining a complete dish in case I did not like it. So I found this dish on The Spruce Eats website (https://www.thespruceeats.com/japanese-udon-noodle-soup-3377950) which is currently one of my go to sites for great vegan recipes.  I just swapped out the Chinese broccoli with some broccoli and asparagus that I had spare; also left out the vegetarian mushroom sauce.  It was still a great dish with some extra firm tofu and spring onions on top.

Udon noodle soup with assorted veggies and tofu

Vegan Japanese Udon Noodle Soup

I served the shungiku alongside making this goma-ae (Chrysanthemum Greens with sesame dressing).  Find the recipe here - https://japan.recipetineats.com/chrysanthemum-leaves-goma-ae-sweet-sesame-dressing/#wprm-recipe-container-2730 .  I think I made the mistake of not putting in the sugar into this dish as I found it too bitter and astringent.  Perhaps I was just not used to this particular taste.  Good to try!

Goma-ae (Chrysanthemum Greens with sesame dressing)

Goma-ae (Chrysanthemum Greens with sesame dressing)

Vegan Udon Noodle Soup

Soundtrack: ' You You' by Julien Dyne from the 'Teal' album - https://juliendyne.bandcamp.com/album/teal