EDIBLEharvest

Growing And Using Malabar Spinach

By Charlotte Benedetto

Spinach. Sweet pea. Gunnera. ‘Avon’ spinach. Black-seeded Simpson. Boston lettuce. Bells of Ireland . . . These are the cool, aloof, early-season heartbreakers of the Washington, DC, garden. Bolted, wilted, fried, gone—killed; killed always by the inexorable heat. Spinach lovers may gather delicate feathers of flavor until the Fourth of July in Bar Harbor or Albany—but not in Washington, DC. For local gardeners, spinach, like legislation, must be exquisitely and properly timed—even hybrids like arrowhead spinach—or it will just break a lotta hearts. Cool, early varieties like ‘Avon’ required cold frames, feats of engineering, and often prayer, to get through first the punishing frosts and then the baking April afternoons. But now we can say to heck with “regular” spinach: A new challenger has appeared. Vivid in color, vining in habit, vigorous in temperament and flavor—this summer, let a heat-loving, humidity-loving, water-loving Malabar spinach (Basella alba) muscle into your garden. When I was a girl in Fairfax County’s experimental “World Civilization” college prep program, I received a list of “African” agricultural contributions, probably an early attempt to inject diversity into the history curriculum. A worksheet listed a series of inventions and plants as having originated from the African continent (about as informational as saying a plant or machine originates from “Earth”). Supposedly, yam, okra, peanut, and something called “Malabar spinach” were brought over from Africa, although the mechanism of this “bringing over” was not explained. Malabar spinach, it was implied, of course, came to the USA with captured African people. How could this have happened? Moreover, how could it come to be called Malabar? More likely, individuals from the Javanese diaspora of the early 19th century introduced Malabar spinach through the Javanese habit of sailing with the Dutch.

An Unfamiliar Edible

Similar to okra, putting in a pin on the origin of Basella alba is tough, but Malabar spinach has naturalized throughout most of Africa and some of North and South America; many consider it as an endemic (and, some might say an invasive) edible. Gourmet chefs have been trying to get us to eat unlikely greens and amaranths for years— quinoa has long been mainstream, and some of us have always enjoyed chard and beets, yet lamb’s quarters, goosefoot, pigweed, and other greens have never really caught fire. Mild, yet peppery, juicy and succulent, but without the “grainy” texture of many greens, Malabar spinach might crack the unique-greens market soon, thanks to its ease in growing, mild flavor, good

looks (shiny leaves and many varieties featuring deep, vivid red or purple stems), and heat resistance. Malabar spinach likes it hot, hot, hot. Few summer greens in the garden can offer this level of sun and heat resistance. The succulent soft leaves of Malabar spinach have the texture of spinach, but without the strange, gritty, crystalline effect of spinach on the teeth. Most plants have a super-mild, spinach-like, “planty” flavor: mild and non-assertive—but like many greens, some Malabar spinach plants have an arugula-like “pip” or “kick” to the leaves. Cooking them soothes any over-assertive pepperiness, however, and this green is ideal as a last-moment “garnish” for dishes like drunken noodles or any soysauced stir fry. Chinese cuisines use the heartshaped leaves of Malabar spinach— sometimes called luòkuí in international markets—as a main-dish green and as a garnish. The lively spinach-like flavor and juicy wiltedness of these leaves combine well with oyster sauce; Malabar spinach does well on top of wok dishes, with a little spring onion added at the end. Harvest the young leaves for best fresh salad flavor, and the larger leaves for more structure, such as in soups or to stand up to more prolonged cooking. Culinarily quite versatile, Malabar spinach is not only geographically global; it can substitute for spinach anywhere it is served. Larger leaves steam into a perfectly soft, juicy side-green in a traditional “meat and three veg”—even the most unadventurous and conservative diners wouldn’t find it out of place under a pat of butter and next to a cutlet, steamed carrots, and mashed potatoes. Easy Growing Tips

A zippy, hot-weather, cut-and-comeagain green, these plants will grow lickety-split in the right situation. A hot start can provide full maturity in just 80 days. Extremely frost-sensitive, Malabar spinach should never be planted outside until night-time temperatures are firmly at 60º F and above. Place in a sunny, well-aired location in the garden with light protection from mammals and—at first—crows (in my western Fairfax County garden, crows helpfully prick out seedlings). A support or trellis is entirely necessary, and the best shape would probably be a cone, tipi, or other frame for maximum air circulation and sun exposure. Support will be required, and an old tomato cone will do; if you really want to go native, you could site your Malabar plants under some other naturally lanky co-conspirator in the garden bed such as ornamental corn.

Vining, twining, succulent, and green, this perennial can cover great heights if given the right conditions, but you will need some sort of light protection such as mesh or barriers. Deer don’t prefer it, but they will certainly sample elevated Malabar spinach. Ladybugs, horticultural dusts, or regular water blasts to the undersides of these leaves probably will be a must, because these delicious greens are like an aphid buffet. Aphids and mealybugs will like your Malabar spinach as much as you do, and rabbits may take a bite now and then, but IPM techniques and good siting can help with these issues. o

Charlotte Benedetto is a writer, artist, and gardener living in Great Falls, VA. She is enrolled in the Northern Virginia Community College horticulture program and was an intern last fall with Washington Gardener. Chenchra is a Bengali traditional recipe. The main ingredient is pui shak (Malabar spinach leaves) and vegetables with Hillsha fish head. Photo by Mannamajumder, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.