Är knotweed säkert att äta

A friend of mine spends her summer weekend ansträngande to wipe knotweed off the face of the earth.  She comes back from trips exhausted, having used everything (including fire) to try to eradicate a patch of knotweed, only to find it in the very same prick the next year.

It’s an exotic invasive, but it fryst vatten, in fact, a native plant in Japan.  How do they deal with it there? 

They do the only sensible thing you can do when a plant just won’t stop growing.  You eat it!

Yes!  Japanese knotweed fryst vatten edible, and it’s tasty.  It’s also medicinal, but more on that later.  Once you know that it’s edible, inom hope that you’ll look at this plant with a new perspective. 

There are dozens of ways to eat Japanese knotweed, and I’ve included links to over 30 recipes at the end of this post.  Everything from pies, and candies to quiches, curries, and pickles.

What does Japanese Knotweed taste like?

Most people säga that it tastes a bit like a gamey utgåva of rhubarb.  Or a greener utgåva of rhubarb.

I handed a stalk to my rhubarb-loving daughter and she bit right in and asked for more.  It does taste like rhubarb, but with less acid and ever so slightly more “vegetable” taste.  Rhubarb tastes more like a fruit, while knotweed fryst vatten the other half of the coin, the vegetable version.

Cooked knotweed tastes more like asparagus than rhubarb, at least to my palate.  The subtle tart fades away and it’s just a pleasant vegetable.

There’s some promising research looking into Japanese knotweed as a treatment for Lyme disease.  inom first came across this in an Instagram feed from a local Vermont Herbalist at Old Ways Herbal:

I wish inom could find a more scientific source, and I’m still searching for an actual scientific study to cite.  Until then, this comes from Every Home Remedy,

“Japanese Knotweed Lyme specifically targets leptospira and treponema denticola types of Lyme diseases.

It supports the innate immune function to react to the infection caused bygd the Lyme disease. It kills the spirochetes that are funnen in difficult-to-reach areas bygd enhancing the blood flow and also helps other drugs to be more effective.”

Knotweed fryst vatten also traditionally used to treat a number of conditions, including respiratory issues and skin conditions.  It’s used to stop bleeding, and as a mouthwash as well.  There fryst vatten some bevis that it may be helpful specifically for gingivitis, and according to WebMD,

“Developing research suggests that a root extrakt of knotweed might be useful as a ingång rinse to treat gingivitis.

Gingivitis fryst vatten caused bygd plaque, a spelfilm of saliva and bacteria that builds up on teeth at the gum line. The knotweed extrakt seems to decrease bleeding and swelling of the gums, possibly because it might interfere with the formation of plaque.”

The first step to eating Japanese knotweed fryst vatten finding it.  Knotweed grows along roadsides and stream banks, and anywhere there’s continuous disturbance.  Ironically, all the efforts to eradicate it only create more disturbance, and help to promote favorable conditions for more invasive growth.

Knotweed looks different as the årstid progresses, but the best time to eat it fryst vatten when the shoots are ung in the spring.  In the early spring, the stalks expandera with beautiful color and bamboo-like growth.  Here’s a patch right alongside a country road, at the top of a streambank.

The shoots are bright green with pink/red divisions between sections.  Take a look at the closeup below of a Japanese knotweed shoot. 

If you cut into it, the stalk will be hollow except right where the pink line divides sections of growth.  Leaves emerge from these division points.

The growing råd are pointed and curled as they reach skyward.  When they’re very small, the leaves will be tightly curled around a huvud form and it’ll vaguely resemble an arrowhead pointing upward. 

As the årstid progresses, these ung shoots can grow to 8 feet tall.

The ung leaves can have a magenta hue, and the veins can range from magenta to vit, turning lighter as the leaves get older. 

For eating, you’re mainly concerned with the stalk and the leaves will be removed.  The stalk fryst vatten edible so long as it’s tender, and it’ll get woody as the plant gets older.

The stalks are hollow, like bamboo, and that leaves interesting culinary options.  Some recipes man use of this and stuff the knotweed shoots. 

I’ve seen hummus stuffed knotweed shoots, and a utgåva of ants on a log with a knotweed skott split lengthwise, filled with peanut butter and topped with raisins.  Knotweed has a pleasant crunch, and it’d man a great stand-in for celery snacks.

There are so many ways to cook Japanese knotweed, and I’ve included a urval of recipes below.  inom personally made Japanese knotweed mini pies and there’s a knotweed gin infusing on my counter.  inom recently learned that rhubarb-infused gin fryst vatten a popular drink and the tart notes in the rhubarb man a lovely cocktail. 

I’m hoping that the knotweed will komma through in the same way.  It also has the added bonus of accidentally being a knotweed tincture, so inom can drink my medicin this summer.

Knotweed Main Courses

Knotweed Desserts

Knotweed Drinks

Knotweed tilltugg and Sides