The day started slightly coolish but beautiful...and now it has turned out dreary and wet...
Making a pot of soup with chicken, potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, Moluccan spinach, mustard microgreens, and cachucha peppers... I might add noodles just before it's ready...
About Moluccan Spinach... this is part of an article I wrote a few years ago for one of our local papers about the different greens called 'spinach'...Malabar, Okinawan and Moluccan or Dawn Dewa. I'm including some of the Moluccan in today's soup.
Moluccan (Dawn or Daun Dewa) Spinac
Moluccan Spinach (Gynura divaricata), is said to be originally discovered in Formosa, now known as Taiwan. There is a variety called Gynura nepalensis said to have originated in Nepal.
A hardy, fast growing plant also related to the Okinawan Spinach.
This so-called cholesterol lowering plant is also said to be used in some countries as a tea to decrease the blood glucose of diabetic patients and has been used in China for bronchial treatments.
The plant throws long, straight ‘shoots’ that will keep on growing if left unchecked. I try to train them on trellises. It can be rooted directly into the ground by cuttings. The leaves have a slightly fuzzy texture that is not disagreeable to the palate. I have never seen a bloom or seed pod on this plant.
Can be eaten raw in salads or mixed in stews and stir fries. I prefer to cut a wad of them as a chiffonade in salads. A few leaves mixed in with a regular salad is best than using these leaves alone.
I have tried finding what vitamins and other properties this plant contains, but haven’t been too successful.
I first became familiar with this plant after moving to Hawai'i when a neighbor gave me a starter plant.
How it's growing in our yard Photo taken from back to front of house.
