Tatsoi

Tatsoi

What it is

Its Chinese name turns on the character for collapse: tatsoi grows as a rosette pressed flat against cold soil rather than upright, and that is exactly what carries it through hard frost. Growers cut it from under snow, when almost nothing else in the field is still standing.

In the kitchen

The spoon-shaped leaves are thicker than mizuna and take heat well, but unevenly: put the ribs in the pan thirty seconds before the leaves, or the leaves go grey while the ribs are still raw. Dress a raw salad at the table — dressed early, the rosettes weep.

Goes with

Toasted sesame oil Soy sauce Ginger Rice vinegar Garlic Shiitake Egg

Same species

Baek-kimchi Broccoli Brussels sprout Cabbage Cauliflower Cavolo nero

In season alongside

Daikon Kohlrabi Bamboo shoot Barbe de capucin Bettarazuke Blue foot mushroom

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