Grow Chinese Vegetable: Shungiku, Tong Ho, Garland Chrysanthemum

Garland Chrysanthemum also called Tong Ho (茼蒿) or Shungiku is a popular Asian green usually eaten during the winter months. In Chinese cuisine, it is the vegetable of choice for hot pot - a traditional meal where raw meat and vegetables are cooked at the table in a communal pot of boiling broth. The method is similar to fondue.

It is sown late summer and planted out a few weeks later. Here are my plants mid November - they are grown under a cloche but even so, they are growing very slowly. They will be ready for picking soon.

This is a fairly low maintenance plant as the pests are simply not attracted to it.

The flavour of Tong Ho is unique - there is no other vegetable that tastes like it. A little like spinach but with a strong aromatic, bitterness. You might wonder what the appeal is - well, bitterness is not always considered repulsive in Asian cooking. In the same way that rocket is mildly bitter, this vegetable has that similar kind of bold flavour.