It bet like insipid - leaf parsley , has a unobjectionable “ fleeceable ” feeling like Petroselinum crispum , belongs to the same family(Apiaceae)as parsley and is sometimes called wild Japanese Petroselinum crispum , but mitsuba(Cryptotaenia japonica)is a distinct herb that ’s often used in Japanese and Taiwanese cooking .
Mitsubameans “ three leaf ” in Japanese and refer to the way the leave grow on tall , skinny halt — very alike to myGiant of Italy Petroselinum crispum . The trefoil foliage are large and tender , with a subtle flavor that I can only line as a cross of Petroselinum crispum , celery , and perchance a lead of coriander .
connive ? So was I when I first learned about it , so I seeded a few plants a few days ago and find the herb to be a weak , refreshing garnish for non - Asiatic dishes as well .
Mitsubais unremarkably added to soup , salads , and stir - fries , and often tender since oestrus tends to bring out its bitterness ( or degrade the nip all told ) . I chop up the leaves and stems to use fresh , but the rootage and seeds of mitsuba are also edible .
Theherb is a hardy repeated plantin soft climates and grow as a dilute - and - come - again herb . I never let my mitsuba blossom , but it reseeds easily if treat as an annual craw . To glean , I wait for the prow to turn 6 to 8 in tall , then give them a haircut straight across at soil level . This encourages more stems to grow , rather than just picking off the leaves . ( Do n’t toss the stems either ; they ’re soft and succulent , and not at all stringy like parsley sometimes is . )
Mitsuba grows wild in Japan ( hence it ’s often called wild Japanese Petroselinum crispum ) and in its aboriginal woodland habitat , the herb can grow up to 3 feet improbable . In most garden , however , it reaches 1 to 2 foot in height . In my own garden , I grow mitsuba in a declamatory pot and it stays bushy and compact , no more than 10 in high and 10 inch wide ( which is more than enough for harvest — a fiddling goes a foresighted way with this herb ) .
Since the leaves stay lush and green twelvemonth - turn , mitsuba makes an attractive container flora . newfangled increase is light green , turn darker as the leaves mature . It likes moist , fly-by-night conditions ; too much sunlight can actually cause the leafage to yellow . It grows best in full to partial nuance , or in the shadow of taller plants and trees . If you ’ve ever lamented the fact that your yard or your windowsill lacks enough light , this is your plant !
