With dark green leaves that are rich in calcium, Komatsuna or Japanese mustard spinach is a leafy vegetable that is stir-fried, pickled, boiled, or added to soups and salads in Japanese cooking.
What is Komatsuna?
Komatsuna (小松菜) or Japanese mustard spinach (Brassica rapa var. perviridis) is a leafy vegetable and is a variety of Brassica rapa, the plant species that yields the turnip, mizuna (水菜), napa cabbage and rapini.
Komatsuna gets its name from the Komatsugawa (小松川) district, which includes Edogawa, Katsushika, and Adachi wards. Tokyo was the second-largest regional producer of komatsuna in 2004.
Komatsuna has dark green leaves that are rich in calcium, and it’s grown commercially in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea.
How to Use Komatsuna
In Japanese cooking, this calcium-rich vegetable is stir-fried, pickled, boiled, and added to soups or used fresh in salads.
Where to Find Komatsuna
Komatsuna can be found at Japanese grocery stores and maybe at your local farmers market (depending on the area). You most likely won’t find it at Asian grocery stores.
You can get seeds of Komatsuna online at Kitazawa Seed Co.
Substitute:
In my recipes that I use Komatsuna, you can replace it with the following vegetable:
- Mizuna (also can be hard to find if you don’t have a well-stocked Japanese grocery store)
- Spinach
- Bok choy
- Napa cabbage
- Daikon leaves
- Watercress (only you can’t get all the above)
- Kale (only you can’t get all the above)
Recipes Using Komatsuna
Ozoni (Kansai-Style New Year Mochi Soup)
Ozoni (Kanto-Style New Year Mochi Soup)
