I LOVE plants that can be neglected and still thrive well. **GROWN HERE ON OUR FARM IN TENNESSEE!** ********K Kung*********** *Hey, this is not your regular, everyday run of the mill Spinach* Water Convolvulus Very Fast growing herb, Bamboo Leaved, long, thin leaved selection, thrives in moist soils or aquatic areas. Popular Oriental vegetable cultivated for its leaves in China, Malaysia and India K Kung is a delicious tropical perennial Asian vegetable with a sweet and mild flavour. Takes as little as 5 weeks until first harvest Hardiness: USDA Zone 7a: to -17.7 °C (0 °F) Bloom Color: Pink Violet/Lavender White/Near White Common Names: Water Spinach, Chinese Spinach, River Spinach, Swamp Cabbage, Water Glory, Water Convolvulus,K kung, Ong Choy, Hung Tsai, Rau Muong, Entsai Family: CONVOLVULACEAE (Morning Glory & Sweet Potato) Origin Hung Tsai is likely to have originated from India but has been cultivated most extensively in South-East Asia. Description Ong Choy is a tropical perennial, edible, elongated, heart-shaped leaves and thick green stems. It has a sweet, mild flavour with little bitterness. Uses Rau Muong is best when added to stir-fries towards the end of cooking. Can also be chopped finely and added to soups. Young shoots can be eaten raw. Germination Sow seed 1/4" deep spaced about 4" apart. Soak seeds in luke-warm water overnight to aid germination. Sow during Spring and Summer. Cultivation * Propagates easily from seed. Takes as little as five weeks until first harvest.* In Indonesia, they are called K kung. They were a cheap, easy growing, delicious fast crops. They have lots of nutrition within. Culinary uses: The vegetable is a common ingredient in Southeast Asian dishes. In Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, the leaves are usually stir-fried with chili pepper, garlic, ginger, dried shrimp paste (belacan/terasi) and other spices. In Penang and Ipoh, it is cooked with cuttlefish and a sweet and spicy sauce. Also known as Eng Cai in the Hokkien dialect. It can also be boiled with preserved cuttlefish, then rinsed and mixed with spicy rojak paste to become "jiu hu eng cai". Boiled eng cai also used to serve with fermented krill noodle "belacan bee hoon" and prawn noodle. This plant has a high amount of phenolic compounds, which makes it extremely nutritious, antioxidant, and disease preventative. Water Spinach and its Nutrition: Like spinach, water spianch is rich in iron, calcium and riboflavin. It is an excellent source of the antioxidant vitamin’s C and A. This plant has numerous carotenoids. Carotenoids are plant pigments which when digested are converted into vitamin A. The principle carotenoids in water spinach are lutein, lutein epoxide, violaxanthin and neoxanthin. Lutein is important for eye health and research indicates that increased lutein intake may lower our risk of cataracts. Violaxanthin and neoxanthin are two carotenoids which as yet haven’t gotten as much attention as beta-corotene or lutein. However, they are also powerful antioxidants which have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. Water spinach has long been used in Southeast Asia as a traditional herbal medicine for the treatment and prevention of ailments, including high blood pressure, diabetes and eye diseases. In recent years researchers have discovered that the leaves and stems of water spinach are high in phenolic compounds (antioxidants). #1291