, kyona, Japanese mustard greens, or spider mustard, Mark Bittman is a
cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...
of ''
Brassica rapa
''Brassica rapa'' is a plant species growing in various widely cultivated forms including the turnip (a root vegetable); napa cabbage, bomdong, bok choy, and rapini.
''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''oleifera'' is an oilseed which has many common n ...
'' var. ''niposinica''.
Description and use
Possessing dark green, serrated leaves, mizuna is described as having, when raw, a "piquant, mild peppery flavor...slightly spicy, but less so than arugula."Discovering Mizuna /ref> It is also used in stir-fries, soups, and
nabemono
''Nabemono'' (鍋物, なべ物, ''nabe'' "cooking pot" + ''mono'' "thing"), or simply ''nabe'', is a variety of Japanese hot pot dishes, also known as one pot dishes and "things in a pot".
Description
Nabemono are stews and soups containin ...
(Japanese
hot pot
Hot pot or hotpot (), also known as soup-food or steamboat, is a cooking method that originated in China. A heat source on the dining table keeps a pot of soup stock simmering, and a variety of Chinese foodstuffs and ingredients are served b ...
s).
Varieties
In addition to the term ''mizuna'' (and its alternates) being applied to at least two different
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of ''
Brassica
''Brassica'' () is a genus of plants in the cabbage and mustard family ( Brassicaceae). The members of the genus are informally known as cruciferous vegetables, cabbages, or mustard plants. Crops from this genus are sometimes called ''cole c ...
'', horticulturalists have defined and named a number of varieties. For example, a resource provided by
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
and the
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
lists sixteen varieties including "Early Mizuna", "Kyona Mizuna", "
Komatsuna
or Japanese mustard spinach (''Brassica rapa'' var. ''perviridis'') is a leaf vegetable. It is a variety (botany), variety of ''Brassica rapa'', the plant species that yields the turnip, mizuna, napa cabbage, and rapini. It is grown commercial ...
Mizuna", "Vitamin Green Mizuna", "Kyoto Mizuna", "Happy Rich Mizuna", "Summer Fest Mizuna", "Tokyo Early Mizuna", "Mibuna Mizuna", "Red Komatsuna Mizuna", "Waido Mizuna" and "Purple Mizuna". There is also a variety known as pink mizuna.
Cultivation
Mizuna has been cultivated in Japan since ancient times. Mizuna was successfully grown in the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...
in 2019. It grows in
hardiness zones
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
4 to 9, prefers full sun or partial shade, well-drained soil and a pH of 6.5-7.0. It can be grown as a microgreen, sowing every 3cm, or for its leaves with a 20cm spacing. It is produced by more than 30 countries around the world, but China, Japan, South Korea, India and United States account for 70% of global production.