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Water Spinach—Chinatown's Tasty Morning Glory
Plants & Gardens News Volume 16, Number 3 | Fall 2001
by Scott D. Appell
As a native New Yorker, I have a special love for our ethnic urban market places: Spanish Harlem, Little Italy, Little India and—most of all—Chinatown. The sounds, sights, and smells of Mott, Mulberry, Grand, and Canal Streets are as authentic as any in Hong Kong, Canton, or Beijing (or so my well-traveled friends tell me).
I've been visiting Chinatown to buy fresh produce and sun-dried goods for more than three decades. I first was introduced to the area when I was seventeen and working with Dr. Stephen K-M. Tim, the late VP of Science at BBG. He was a wonderful teacher, guide, and mentor, and his enthusiasm was infectious.
I began by taking home Asian vegetables for my mother to cook for our family dinner. Big mistake! Mother was a product of the Birds EyeTM generation. For her, even frozen zucchini and asparagus had to be boiled eight minutes to insure culinary perfection. She was stymied by anything fresh, so I was forced to learn how to cook Oriental vegetables myself.
Steve gave me some good tips. One of the most delicious plants he taught me about was Ipomoea aquatica, the water spinach. It's a true aquatic: Botanists term it a "biological type 10" plant, which means it has strong growth held above the water's surface, similar to pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata) and lizard's tail (Saururus cernus).
Water spinach is in the same genus (Ipomoea) as the common garden morning glory. But unlike its cousin, a twining plant, water spinach is a rambler and leaner—similar in growth to the ornamental sweet potato (another relative). Its small, funnel-shaped blossoms can be purple, pink, or white, depending on the cultivated variety, and make a lovely edible addition to Chinese "cold mixes."
(Note: In rural, agrarian China, by virtue of the use of "night soil" as a raw fertilizer, uncooked produce is never eaten. However, stir-fried, boiled, or steamed veggies are served cold or at room temperature, and the endemic culinary term for them translates as "cold mix.")
The nutrient-rich water spinach is known as keng xin cai (or "empty heart vegetable" because of its hollow stems) or ong choy in China, pak hung in Thailand, kangkung in Indonesia, and rau muong in Vietnam. It's available in Asian markets from May through October and sold in tightly packed bunches. The plant's elongated, arrowhead-shaped, light-green foliage is easily recognizable.
The foliage and tender stems are traditionally stir-fried or steamed. Chopped fine and cooked, they can be used as fillings for steamed buns and dim sum, or deep fried as a component of spring rolls and juan. Like true spinach, I. aquatica contains a high percentage of water and therefore shrinks a great deal when cooked. If in doubt about how much you might need, buy another bunch.
Incidentally, water spinach can be easily propagated and grown at home. First of all, loosen the shoots, remove dead foliage, and re-cut the stems. Then, immediately dip the ends in rooting hormone and insert them into a drainage-free container filled with inundated sharp sand. After roots develop, transplant them into a fertile soil mixture and place in a very sunny portion of the water garden. These plants relish heat and humidity, and flourish in areas with very hot, frost-free temperatures, such as USDA Zone 11 and 12.
Ipomoea aquatica has become a significant invasive species in the waterways of Florida, and is therefore illegal in that state. Nonetheless, it makes an excellent edible, sunny windowsill, or conservatory water garden plant.
Although once a novice when it came to Asian vegetables, Scott D. Appell now leads ethnobotanical tours of Chinatown and gives Chinese cooking and baking lessons in his home kitchen. "I find Chinatown's assault on the nostrils invigorating," he says, "and the cacophony of Mandarin and Cantonese is a pleasant change from the typical sounds of Manhattan—the boom boxes, cell phones, and traffic."
A regular contributor to P&G News, Scott is also the editor of two BBG handbooks: Landscaping Indoors and The Potted Garden. In addition, he has written four books, Pansies, Lilies, Tulips, and Orchids. He is currently director of education for the Horticultural Society of New York and runs a private consulting company called The Green ManTM .