Knotweed, more commonly known as Japanese knotweed, is literally a weed. It is in fact an invasive species in areas where it grows, and most of the literature about it has to do with how to get rid of it. It was the Japanese who decided to eat it to control its aggressive tendencies, but it is only worth eating for a few short weeks in the spring when it is short (6 inches tall or so) and tender. After that, it apparently more closely resembles bamboo, both in appearance and texture. Knotweed is hollow and has small nodes and leaves along the length of its shaft. The leaves are not edible and should be removed before eating. Knotweed is a member of the same family as sorrel, buckwheat and rhubarb.
It turns out that a pound was, well, too much knotweed. Yes, it is somewhat similar to celery but it is also incredibly tart, the kind of tart that makes your face get all knotted up. Maybe that's why it's called knotweed??! Imagine eating a stick of raw rhubarb as you would a piece of celery. That is knotweed. Well, with a bit more "weedy", dirty flavor. Knowing that rhubarb is great with a ton of sugar, I decided to treat it as I would rhubarb after our first use as a Bloody Mary stir stick proved to be too offensive for a Sunday morning. So I threw some into a pie with some strawberries and a bunch of sugar. The pie was delicious when eating the strawberries but the bites with knotweed just tasted like dirt. I'm sure the
knotweed added to the overall texture and depth of flavor of the pie, but I guess there's a reason you don't find any knotweed pies at your local bakery; they would have to call it dirt-weed pie. Fortunately, it didn't ruin the rest of the fruit. I want to say that it would make a good chutney due to all of the acidity but I'm not willing to spend half of my Sunday making jars of something that may end up tasting like dirt.
3 comments:
You're braver than I! I noticed the knot weed at Foraged & Found a couple weeks back, and was mostly interested because we have a tiny patch of it in our yard that goes from nothing in the winter, to a 6-7 food tree by mid-Spring. I had no idea it was edible until I saw them selling it. Thanks for taking on this interesting item and reporting on the results!
Sorry I didn't have a more inspiring item to report on, especially considering that you have some in your backyard! If it's not too late this year, maybe you should try some chutney or jam with it? It could turn out great (or not!).
Hi Ellen,
I live on Bainbridge Island, where there has been a big push to eradicate knotweed, a very aggressive invasive. The only (apparent) way to do this is by poisoning the plant. Are you concerned about potential sourcing from an area that may have been treated in the past?
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