Ipomoea aquatica is a semi-
aquaticAquatic plants — also called hydrophytic plants or hydrophytes — are plants that have adapted to living in or on aquatic environments. Because living on or under water surface requires numerous special adaptations, aquatic plants can only grow in water or permanently saturated soil...
tropical plant grown as a
leaf vegetableLeaf vegetables, also called potherbs, green vegetables, greens, or leafy greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots...
. It is known in English as
water spinach,
swamp cabbage,
water convolvulus or
water morning-glory, and has many other names in other languages. It is found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world; it is not known exactly where it originated.
Ipomoea aquatica grows in
waterWater is an ubiquitous chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is essential for all known forms of life.In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71%...
or on moist
soilSoil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and...
.
Ipomoea aquatica is a semi-
aquaticAquatic plants — also called hydrophytic plants or hydrophytes — are plants that have adapted to living in or on aquatic environments. Because living on or under water surface requires numerous special adaptations, aquatic plants can only grow in water or permanently saturated soil...
tropical plant grown as a
leaf vegetableLeaf vegetables, also called potherbs, green vegetables, greens, or leafy greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots...
. It is known in English as
water spinach,
swamp cabbage,
water convolvulus or
water morning-glory, and has many other names in other languages. It is found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world; it is not known exactly where it originated.
Ipomoea aquatica grows in
waterWater is an ubiquitous chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is essential for all known forms of life.In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71%...
or on moist
soilSoil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and...
. Its stems are or more long, rooting at the nodes, and they are hollow and can float. The
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
vary from typically sagittate (arrow-head-shaped) to lanceolate, long and broad. The
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s are trumpet-shaped, diameter, usually white in colour with a mauve centre.
Cultivation and culinary uses
Ipomoea aquatica is most commonly grown in EastEast Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. Geographically and geo-politically, it covers about , or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe, though some categorize Tibet, Xinjiang,...
and Southeast AsiaManila
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Yangon
Bandung
Hanoi
Surabaya
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Medan|-|}...
. Because it flourishes naturally in waterways and requires little if any care, it is used extensively in Malay and Chinese cuisine, especially in ruralRural areas are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low population density.About 91 percent of the rural population now earn salaried incomes, often in urban areas...
or kampung (village) areas.
It has also been introduced to the United States of America where its high growth rate has caused it to become an environmental problem, especially in Florida and Texas. It has been officially designated by the USDA as a "noxious weed" (the term "noxious" refers to its effect on the environment, not to any toxicity)
The vegetable is a common ingredient in Southeast Asian dishes. In
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
,
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and
PenangPenang is a state in Malaysia, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. Penang is the second smallest state in Malaysia after Perlis, and the eighth most populous...
, the leaves are usually
stir friedStir frying is an umbrella term used to describe two techniques for cooking food in a wok while stirring it: chǎo and bào . The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, to describe the chǎo technique...
with chile pepper,
garlicAllium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive. Garlic has been used throughout recorded history for both culinary and medicinal purposes. It has a characteristic pungent, spicy flavor that...
,
gingerGinger is a tuber which is consumed whole as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale....
, dried
shrimp pasteShrimp paste or shrimp sauce, is a common ingredient used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisine. It is known as terasi in Indonesian, Ngapi in Burmese kapi in Thai, Khmer and Lao language, belacan in Malay, mắm ruốc, mắm tép and mắm tôm in...
(belacan/terasi) and other
spiceA spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, leaf, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for the purpose of flavour, colour, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth....
s. In
PenangPenang is a state in Malaysia, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. Penang is the second smallest state in Malaysia after Perlis, and the eighth most populous...
and
IpohIpoh is a city in Malaysia and is the capital of the state of Perak. It is approximately 200 km north of Kuala Lumpur via the North-South Expressway....
, it is cooked with
cuttlefishCuttlefish are marine animals of the order Sepiida belonging to the Cephalopoda class . Despite their common name, cuttlefish are not fish but mollusks...
and a sweet and spicy sauce. During the
Japanese Occupation of SingaporeThe Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II occurred between 1942 and 1945 after the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942. Military forces of the Empire of Japan occupied Singapore after defeating the combined Australian, British, Indian and Malayan garrison in the Battle of Singapore...
in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the vegetable grew remarkably well and easily in many areas, and become a popular wartime crop.
In Chinese cuisine, there are numerous ways of preparation, but a simple and quick stir-fry either plain or with minced
garlicAllium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive. Garlic has been used throughout recorded history for both culinary and medicinal purposes. It has a characteristic pungent, spicy flavor that...
is probably the most common. In Cantonese cuisine, a popular variation adds preserved
tofuor called toufu, bean curd is a soft white food made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks. It is of Chinese origin, and part of East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and others. There are many different varieties...
(furu, Mandarin). In Hakka cuisine, yellow
bean pasteBean paste can either refer to:*Fermented bean paste - a savory or spicy fermented paste made typically of salted soybeans, used in many Asian cultures...
is added, sometimes along with fried
shallotThe term shallot is used to describe two different Allium species of plant. The French grey challot or griselle, which has been considered to be the “true shallot” by many, is Allium oschaninii, a species that grows wild from Central to Southwest Asia. Other varieties of shallot are Allium cepa...
s. The vegetable is also extremely popular in
TaiwanTaiwan , also known as Formosa , is the largest island of the Republic of China in East Asia. Taiwan is located east of the Taiwan Strait, off the southeastern coast of mainland China...
, where it grows well.
In
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
and
MyanmarBurma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia or Indochina. The country is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest and the Bay of Bengal to the...
it is frequently stir-fried with
oyster sauceOyster sauce is a viscous dark brown sauce commonly used in Chinese, Filipino, Thai and Khmer cuisine. It is especially common in Cantonese cuisine.-Origin:...
or
yellow soybean pasteYellow soybean paste is a fermented paste made from yellow soybeans, salt, and water; wheat flour, though not formerly used, is often used as an additional ingredient in the modern day, and potassium sorbate may also be used as a preservative...
, and garlic and chillies. It can also be eaten raw, for instance with
green papaya saladSom tam or Som tum also known as Tam mak hoong is a spicy salad made from shredded unripened papaya. Som tam is derived from a traditional dish in Laos called tam mak hoong.-Ingredients:...
.
There is concern that when eaten raw, the plant may transmit Fasciolopsis buski
an intestinal flukeFluke may refer to:* A fluke, the pair of horizontal tail fins of whales, dolphins, and porpoises* Flounder, type of flatfish* Trematoda, class of flatworms* Fluke , electronic dance music group* Fluke, 1995 film* Fluke , 1977 novel...
parasite of humans and pigs causing fasciolopsiasisFasciolopsiasis results from infection by the trematode Fasciolopsis buski Odhner, 1902, the largest intestinal fluke of humans .-Geographic distribution:...
.
In Vietnam, it once served as a staple vegetable of the poor (known as rau muống
). In the south, the stems are juliennedJulienne is a method of food preparation in which the food item is cut into long thin strips. Common items to be julienned are carrots for carrots Julienne or celery for Céléris Remoulade ....
into thin strips and eaten with many kinds of noodles, and used as a garnish as well. Ipomoea aquatica
has become a common ingredient of Vietnamese cuisine. Rau muống
reminds Vietnamese people of their simple and peaceful rural hometown life. This is illustrated by a poem:
In the PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, Ipomoea aquatica
is usually sauteed in cooking oil, onionOnion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa. Allium cepa is also known as the "garden onion" or "bulb" onion...
s, garlic, vinegar, and soy sauceSoy sauce , soya sauce or is produced by fermenting soybeans with the molds Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus soyae along with roasted grain, water, and salt. Soy sauce was invented in China, where it has been used as a condiment for close to 2,500 years...
. This dish is called "adoboAdobo is Spanish for seasoning or marinade. The noun form describes the marinade or seasoning mix. Meat marinated or seasoned with an adobo is referred to having been adobada....
ng kangkong". It is also a common leaf vegetable in fish and meat stews like sinigangSinigang is a Philippine soup or stew characterized by its sour flavor. It bears some similarities to Indonesian sayur asem, Vietnamese canh chua, and Thai tom yam...
.
There is also an appetizer in the Philippines called "crispy kangkong", in which Ipomoea aquatica
leaves are coated with batter and fried until crisp and golden brown.
Cultural references
There is a belief in traditional Chinese culture that discourages extensive consumption of Ipomoea aquatica as a
staple foodA staple food is a food that can be stored for use throughout the year and forms the basis of a traditional diet. Staple foods vary from place to place, but are typically inexpensive starchy foods of vegetable origin that are high in food energy and carbohydrate...
(in contrast to
riceRice is the seed of a monocot plant Oryza sativa, of the grass family . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East, South, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the West Indies...
) with the explanation that the hollow stem makes the person weak and hollow like the plant, although this belief does not advocate refraining from eating the plant entirely. But the elderly, for example, are discouraged from consuming it. This belief probably derived from ancient observations following attempts to replace consumption of rice with the relatively resilient Ipomoea aquatica
during times of food shortages and warWar is a reciprocated, armed conflict, between two or more non-congruous entities, aimed at reorganising a subjectively designed, geo-politically desired result...
and noting loss of muscle strength, probably due to the fact that Ipomoea aquatica
contains less food energyFood energy is the amount of energy in food that is available through digestion.Like other forms of energy, food energy is expressed in calories or joules. Some countries use the food calorie, which is equal to 1 kilocalorie , or 1,000 gram calories...
than rice. Despite this, it is a common vegetable in Asian cuisine.
External links
Ipomoea aquatica