Water Spinach Kangkong Chinese

Learn how to grow kangkong and enjoy this leafy vegetable from the family of morning glories.

Water spinach kangkong chinese. Kangkong or water spinach is an edible plant that is mostly used in southeast asian cooking. Water spinach is grown especially in the southeast asian region as a vegetable. This plant is known in english as water spinach river spinach water morning glory water convolvulus or by the more ambiguous names chinese spinach chinese watercress chinese convolvulus or swamp cabbage or kangkong in southeast asia and ong choy in. If you want to grow it you re in luck because it is a relatively low maintenance plant.

But when it comes to the chinese water spinach the stem is the main attraction. Water spinach also known as chinese water spinach rive spinach is the most popular leafy greens in hot summer days. It is a semi aquatic plant a creeper that grows in or near the water on moist soils. For personal consumption very little space is.

Gently sweet succulent kangkong greens are one of the traditional south east asian leafy vegetables rich in health benefiting phytonutrients. It has longer thicker and hollower stems than regular spinach which makes for a heartier stir fry dish. Healthy chinese style green vegetables stir fry water spinach. Ipomoea aquatica is a semi aquatic tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots and it is not known where it originated.

Water spinach isn t the same as regular spinach. Chinese water spinach growing in a pond. 100 grams of fresh water spinach hold just 19 calories zero fat but amazingly high levels of vitamin a 6300 iu 210 vitamin c 55 mg 92 riboflavin 8 niacin 5 5 vitamin b 6 pyridoxine 7 folic acid 14 iron 21 calcium 8. Early european records note the plant s extreme productivity.

The chinese water spinach or ipomoea aquatica is part of the morning glory genus named for their trumpet shaped flowers that peak at full bloom in the morning. Ask for water spinach ong choy kangkong morning glory or even water morning glory it all means the same thing. Chinese kangkong also known as water spinach is a popular addition to many asian dishes an easy plant to grow. It just requires a lot of water and a decent amount of fertilizer.

It has long leaves and hollow stems so we name it 空 kōng 心 xīn 菜 cài literally translated as hallow heart vegetable. There s not much in growing water spinach. In southeast asia where the vegetable is most prevalent it is cooked with chilli shrimp paste and fermented bean sauce.