Wednesday’s Helping: Japanese Spinach

Also known as Tatsoi
We recently stumbled across this green veggie and added it to our red mung bean soup. Consumers can find it at your favorite Asian foods supermarket. Tatsoi is native to China. Meanwhile, the Japanese people have prized it for several centuries. This plant’s biological family is known as Brassica rapa. Tatsoi has an appearance that’s akin to bok choy, but it’s an Asian relative to turnips and napa cabbage. Meanwhile, its flavors are very similar to spinach instead of cabbage. Look for off-white broad stems that have longer and thinner deep green leaves at the tips that also form a rosette head. Select specimens with firm and deep green leaves. Avoid tatsoi with yellow discoloration or watery rot. Tatsoi is a good source of fiber.