We bought some beautiful feathery red and green mizuna from David of Suncakes Gardens at the Farmers’ Market. When I seized it with enthusiasm, David asked me how I was planning to use it. Mizuna is a mild-tasting member of the mustard/cabbage family. It thrives in a Waikato winter.
Even I can grow it, but we never have enough in the garden.
Mizuna in my garden: there’s never enough of it.
Three good things to do with mizuna
1. Winter salad (my favourite)
Mizuna makes a distinctive, textured, crunchy, slightly tangy salad. Chop the leaves and stalks into 1cm pieces. Add half a cup (or more) of daikon cut into match-stick sized pieces, and a finely chopped spring onion.
Mix with the following dressing: 1 Tablespoon Asian-style sesame oil, juice of one lime, salt to taste, and a small amount of sugar (maybe half a teaspoon) to balance the flavours. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds over the top of the salad before serving.
2. Asian-style noodle soup
A couple of handfuls of mizuna, finely chopped, go into the broth a couple of minutes before you pour it over the noodles. Wonderful on a cold winter day. This is a gold standard chicken noodle soup, full of healing qualities. Here’s a link to my chicken broth recipe. A vege broth with a tablespoon of miso added at the time of serving is also great.
3. In a stir-fry
Mizuna, stir-fried with garlic and ginger, or with other winter veges. It only needs a couple of minutes of cooking.
