Ipomoea Aquatica
According to Gabriel Miller-Phillips, noted expert on Southeast-Asian gourmet specialities, the tastiest leafy green of all is something called “kang kong.” When I heard this, I ran to the internet to look it up, and was somewhat amused to discover that kang kong is among our shadier vegetables. First of all, it goes by a huge number of names – including water spinach, swamp cabbage, swamp bindweed, water convolvulus, kangkong, kang cung, rau muong, kongxincai and ong choy, among many, many others. Second, it’s one of the world’s most popular vegetables because it will grow more or less anywhere that’s warm and wet. And third, it’s pretty much illegal in this country.
It’s classified as a “federal noxious weed” for the simple reason that, should it gain a foothold in any warm and swampy environment, it will clog waterways, crowd out other plants, and generally make a nuisance of itself and wreak havoc upon a complex ecosystem. The Florida Department of Natural Resources, on its website, warns us (in both English and Vietnamese) that possession of kang kong is punishable by a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail. But it also mentions that it’s “grown illegally in Florida as an oriental food vegetable.”
To my mind, this means that people really are risking jail time (it never says how many are caught) just to get their hands on fresh leafy greens, and what’s the FDNR’s loss should be considered the FDA’s gain – one must admit it’s a step up from simply getting the kids to eat their broccoli.
Many restaurants in NYC (where it’s legal to grow, since our cold winters prevent it from becoming entrenched) offer it on their menus, either in its common Vietnamese preparation (called “Rau Muong Xao Toi,” in a savory garlic sauce) or in its usual Malaysian form (“Kangkong Belacan,” sautéed with unspeakably stinky shrimp paste). I sampled it this afternoon at Nha Trang One (87 Baxter St., btw Canal and Bayard) and was pretty impressed. It’s very similar to spinach, with a hollow stem, and a rich “greeniness” to the flavor. Not dark or muddy in taste at all, the way spinach can sometimes be. And it was dressed with a thin, slightly salty soy and garlic sauce that set it off nicely. It was especially good dotted with the pungent chili sauce served alongside it in a too-small dose (though I realize I probably prefer more heat than most).
It’s classified as a “federal noxious weed” for the simple reason that, should it gain a foothold in any warm and swampy environment, it will clog waterways, crowd out other plants, and generally make a nuisance of itself and wreak havoc upon a complex ecosystem. The Florida Department of Natural Resources, on its website, warns us (in both English and Vietnamese) that possession of kang kong is punishable by a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail. But it also mentions that it’s “grown illegally in Florida as an oriental food vegetable.”
To my mind, this means that people really are risking jail time (it never says how many are caught) just to get their hands on fresh leafy greens, and what’s the FDNR’s loss should be considered the FDA’s gain – one must admit it’s a step up from simply getting the kids to eat their broccoli.
Many restaurants in NYC (where it’s legal to grow, since our cold winters prevent it from becoming entrenched) offer it on their menus, either in its common Vietnamese preparation (called “Rau Muong Xao Toi,” in a savory garlic sauce) or in its usual Malaysian form (“Kangkong Belacan,” sautéed with unspeakably stinky shrimp paste). I sampled it this afternoon at Nha Trang One (87 Baxter St., btw Canal and Bayard) and was pretty impressed. It’s very similar to spinach, with a hollow stem, and a rich “greeniness” to the flavor. Not dark or muddy in taste at all, the way spinach can sometimes be. And it was dressed with a thin, slightly salty soy and garlic sauce that set it off nicely. It was especially good dotted with the pungent chili sauce served alongside it in a too-small dose (though I realize I probably prefer more heat than most).
posted by Big Red at
11:15 AM
1 Comments:
You know, it might be a very tasty plant, and I'm always excited to see vegetarian fare on DumpJunk (you like my impromptu abbreviation?) but as somebody who has attempted to maintain some greenspace in Brooklyn, NYC, I have to say: invasive plants must be terminated with extreme prejudice.
Take, for instance, Japanese Knotweed. They call it a "Class 1 Invader" for a reason - the shit will not stay dead. I started out with some hippie thinking about how, "Oh, it's just another plant! Let them all thrive together in our little nature space!" Fucking incorrect. Japanese Knotweed will wreck you. Jared may be able to confirm this since he had it in his backyard as well (thought I'm not sure he and the boys ever tried to "deal with it" per se).
This is all by way of saying that when somebody says "federal noxious weed", I ask "how high?"
You get the point.
By
Unknown, at 4:23 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home