The very first shoots of spring.
Knotweed. This stuff is chic in foraging communities, but I didn’t find out about it through a wild food book or online group. I read about it in one of my favorite cookbooks: Provence Harvest by Jacques Chibois. Chibois’s restaurant, La Bastide St. Antoine has a garden where Chibois is said to have hundreds of old and obscure herbs and plants. Don’t even think about planting it as an addition to your garden though, no matter what someone tells you. You can eat knotweed, sure, but it’s also the most invasive plant I’ve ever seen. Period. See my note on caution near the end of the post for more on how to safely handle and dispose of the plant.
Habitat
If you don’t know where any knotweed grows, look in disturbed areas, and places that have been forgotten or aren’t tended much, like former gardens or abandoned lots. Just look for the tall, bamboo looking thicket below. I’ve spotted it in plenty of other places since, from parking lots, to gas stations and roadsides, near railroads, and plenty of other places–many of which get sprayed by the city.
The knotweed patch, looking at last years growth will give you an idea of how tall it’s going to get
This Spring I was ready for it, and I’ve cooked about 100 lbs so far, more than enough to put together some thoughts and recommendations about how it would like to be cooked. Here’s some opinions on harvesting, cleaning and cooking.
Knotweed, grows quickly, and you want to get it young, since it gets very stringy and fibrous as the shoots grow taller. If you come across some and they’re already tall and leafy, make sure to look around and inside the network of shoots, there might be younger shoots that are just emerging and tender. Shoots about 1 ft tall or smaller are the best, since, the bigger they are, the tougher the skin.
The young shoots.
Cooking
Cooking is easy, albeit it weird. I cut the plant from the base, remove the leaves, and wash it in cold water. Then it’s ready to go.
It’s related to rhubarb, so the first thing you’ll notice is a sour note from the high amount of oxalic acid. It tastes vaguely like rhubarb, but with a more earthy quality. Where rhubarb pairs naturally with red, ripe fruits, knotweed is much more at home with fall fruits like apples, pears, and grapes. It’s bit hard to describe.
There’s more to knotweed than flavor pairings though. You should know that if it gets wet, it turns slimy, quick. Cooking mellows this, but the texture of the hollow stems is, not pleasant. They disintegrate during cooking like rhubarb, but with a stringy texture that can be unpleasant, especially if the stems are older, and taller than a couple feet. Peeling the stems works to remove stringy fibers, but if the stems aren’t short, young and thick, you won’t get much yield.
The first thing I do with knotweed is cook and puree it in a blender, then freeze for later use. Like the paw-paw, which also has a funky texture after removing the seeds, making knotweed into a puree opens the door to possibilities, as well as bypassing the slimy, flaccid texture of the cooked shoot. Afterwords, to make a something with the knotweed I just pull some of the puree out of the freezer and fold it into things.
These are getting large, and might need some peeling
So what the heck can you do with it?
I don’t recommend knotweed as a vegetable really, unless it’s very, very young and firm, and even then, I would mix the shoots with other vegetables since their sour flavor is strong. I don’t see myself cooking knotweed in savory preparations for customers, barring the discovery of some awesome recipe, which is possible, but I feel, unlikely.
However, when cooked with fruit, or sweetened, I don’t mind it. As I mentioned, it pairs great with pears and apples. Other friends of knotweed are refreshing herbs like cilantro, lemon balm, spearmint or peppermint. It’s also good with cream and dairy, as well as warm spices, which round out it’s flavor. When this goes on the restaurant menu, I’m going to call it Asian rhubarb, since no one will ever pay 8 dollars for a dessert made from something called knotweed.
Anyone else cooked with this? I’d love to hear about it.
Proceed with Caution
Like I mentioned, knotweed is a horribly invasive plant–the worst I’ve ever seen.
- Just because you found a big patch, doesn’t mean you should eat it. Park service and state workers regularly spray knotweed colonies with herbicide in my area, especially along roads and railroads. If the plants look at all wilted or sickly, stay away.
- Don’t compost your knotweed. Knotweed is related to bamboo, and can regrow like a literal plant zombie if you toss it in your compost. Bake, boil, microwave, incinerate, or otherwise denature any scraps you have from cooking to avoid an infestation in a place you live.
Sweetened Japanese Knotweed Puree
Ingredients
- 3 lbs about 10 cups chopped young, japanese knotweed shoots, washed, leaves removed, peeled if taller than 1 ft
- 1.5 cups sugar or an equal volume of another sweetener, like maple syrup (remember liquid sweeteners will contain more water though, which will have to be reduced to get a similar consistency)
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Chop the knotweed shoots into 1 inch pieces. In a deep saucepot, combine the knotweed water and sugar. Cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes on medium heat, until the knotweed is completely soft, and has given off a lot of water.
- Transfer the mixture to a highspeed blender and puree until very smooth. Transfer the puree to a container, label, date, and refrigerate until needed. The puree can also be frozen.
After cooking, the sweetened knotweed puree can be used for all kinds of things: cake fillings, frosting, or something like the simple mousse below. See the knotweed mousse recipe here.
-I’m not sure the leaves can root, especially if falling on the ground. Do you have proof of this? Of course, if a leaf has seeds on it, those can make new plants.
-Is there any possibility to render the leaves edible?
-Wiki lists it also as “sally rhubarb”.
-Have you looked into Japanese uses of it, possibly for a good savory use?
-Related, yes, but only at the family level and up.
I have knotweed in my yard it is very invasive if you chop it down and place it somewhere else it grows back like crazy
It is incredibly invasive.
I found some growing in a park a couple years ago. The park people had a faded old sign posted that said that they were undertaking measures to eradicate some knotweed. Obviously they had given up. They had covered it with two layers of old carpeting and black plastic and sprouts were growing through everywhere.
Hi! This is from North of Austria, where I discovered a large spot of knotweed. I already tried several recipes, and it’s great to learn about it. Today I am planning a „Strudel“, an Austrian specialty, which is filo dough, shaped as a roll ( I discovered, that a sushi mat is a great help). Usually those Strudels are filled with apples, poppyseed, cherries, but also savory fillings with spinach and feta, for example. I‘ll try knotweed, mixed with apples, ginger and some dried berries, like cranberries or raisins. I know it will turnnout delicious. Thanks for the nice article! Greetings from Weitra, Waldviertel, Martina
Oh, I forgot – the filling is mixed with butter-roasted breadcrumbs, some of those are also put between the two layers of filo dough and often cinnamon is added too…
This is super helpful for me as I am just beginning to use this plant. I hope to experiment further but so far have only come up with one simple recipe you can see if you are interested https://alongthegrapevine.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/japanese-knotweed-strata/
A savory use of knotweed that I do like is to stuff it uncooked. You need young but fat stalks or else you definitely need to peel them. Cut them into lengths of about two inches and pipe in a filling; I did an herbed feta cheese. Great presentation and very different taste.
amazing. I’ve never heard of this weed nor am I am forager. However, I applaud ingenuity. Well done.
Yum! Haven’t tried knotweed sweet before. We sautee young shoots with garlic in butter, then add already cooked, strained nettles to the pan, a bit of salt and pepper, some asparagus and enjoy it with fresh sourdough bread and a wild herb pesto made with dandelion, violet, garlic mustard, lots of chickweed, olive oil, and sunflower seeds on the side. We were going to try the knotweed sautee with grilled trout and sourdough this year, but the shoots shot up and got away from us before we caught trout; next year perhaps!!
Nice!
I have stuffed fat young shoots with chopped mild fish (I think I used cod or whiting, but anything would work), combava leaves and fish sauce, bound with a little egg, and another series using ground pork, and then baked them in the oven. It’s good, but I am not a professional, and I found forcing the farce into the shoots a lot of work with a lot of wasted farce that stuck to the implements. On the other hand, presentation aside, (the little stuffed knotweed tubes were a knockout on the plate) one could get the same taste with a baked or steamed fish custard that included chopped knotweed shoots for about 2% the amount of work.
If I were proposing something for a gastronomic restaurant, I would make the fish custard mix and steam little balls of it wrapped in knotweed leaves (yes, the leaves are also edible but a bit astringent) … like sort of “knotweed gefilte fish”.
I also stuffed shoots with fresh cheese and vanilla, but that was more dessert than savoury, and again, something I will never do again, but knotweed cheesecake would be a good idea.
Strawberry Knotweed pie … Delicious !!! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209467955961577&set=pcb.10209467962601743&type=3&theater&ifg=1
That looks great!
Knotweed just started here, so I imagine it will be up in a few weeks in the mid-west. I just made lacto-fermented knotweed stalk pickles from this recipe more or less . They are FANTASTIC. Better than my dad’s cucumber dill pickles (hard to believe though that may be…). And I am embarking on my first batch of chutney this evening – the stalk pieces have been brined overnight and I’m about to start cutting onions. I notice that your recipes are mainly sweet Alan but salty makes a nice change. The pickles are amazing.
I admit that I’ve had trouble enjoying knotweed on the savory side, and have usually cooked it with half it’s weight in apple to cut it, since the flavor has been hard for guests to like. I haven’t tried pickling it, it might be a good idea to try some pickles this year, since I have access to a ton of it. Thanks for the heads up,, you had me at -better than cucumber dills-, I appreciate it.
The chutney is good too. I cooked lots of onions in vinegar and brown sugar with a big scoop of tamarind paste, ginger, mustard, fenugreek and cumin seeds, a few cloves, some powdered cardamom and coriander, then added the drained brined knotweed and let it cook together for about half and hour. Apple might have been a good addition, for the texture above all, but it is NOT apple season…
But seriously, knotweed stalks stuffed with ground fish accented with combava leaves, lemon grass and fish sauce is really good (if way too much trouble for me, a non-professional cook – stuffing paste into tubes is not one of my superpowers and I will never do it again… but I might if I worked in “one of those restaurants” (if I worked in “one of those restaurants” I would probably have figured out the mysteries behind stuffing paste into tubes.)
Hi Alan,
OK, now I have done it so I can recommend with confidence.
Last night I made fish cakes, baked in ramekins on a bed of knotweed and really, seriously you should try this because it’s a fabulous way to use knotweed. The acidity and moisture compliment the fish perfectly.
Here is what I did:
food process 1/2 pound of fish (I used left over bbqed black seabream and makerel but this would work perfectly with anything, cooked or raw)
one egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup cream (30% because that is what I can get here – well actually, it was a mix of milk and cream because I had an almost empty bottle of milk. I think you would need less liquid if using raw than previously bbqed fish…)
one chopped onion (I put in half raw and half that I had fried in olive oil)
a handful of parsley (I also added cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) because it is the season. Coriander would also be good or ramps … (I did not add garlic but one could))
a stalk of lemon grass, minced
some slivered combava leaves
enough fish sauce to make it interesting
Chop knotweed stems (peeled if necessary) and put some into the bottom of muffin cups/ramekins (1/4 filled)
Spoon the fish mix around and over the knotweed stems and bake at 350°F until done.
One could also add the chopped knotweed to the mix. I did it this way because I wanted to make some fish cakes with and some without knotweed but everybody (see below) agreed they were better with…
My teenagers who sometimes feel that my culinary experiments with wild plants verge towards the overenthusiastic and absurd (like … “are all the fuzzy bitter things in the salad really necessary, mom??”) thought they were excellent.
Jacqui, I can’t imagine serving wild food to teenagers, good on you for that. And for the record, yes all the fuzzy and bitter things are necessary, and you’ll eventually love them. I’ll have to try pickling and cooking in a little fish cake or croquette like you suggest, the knotweed is just barely poking it’s head above ground at the farm.
Hi Alan,
let me know what you think about them if you make the fish cakes. You could also try a variation on Hor Mok Pla, with coconut milk and red curry … but I didn’t try that…
I have raised my kids on road kill and wild plants. My 18 year old son (who skinned and butchered the roe deer I found in November with me, all the while reminding me that this was unusual behaviour for adolescents) gained notoriety among his colleagues recently by plunging into a pond in Versailles to collect a wounded sturgeon (I kid you not) that he then cleaned and cooked at his friend’s house (with only two phone calls home for instructions). My daughter is slightly more circumspect though she also appreciates the cachet associated with creative strangeness.
Wow, you’re really teaching you’re kids right. If only more people shared your sensibilities. I’m in awe about your son grabbing the sturgeon. Amazingly there is still snow on the ground in some places In Minnesota, the knotweed hasn’t started poking it’s head out yet, but strangely the rhubarb has. I’m ready to pounce asap though. I’ll try your pickles, but first I’m going to make a batch of cow parsnip cordial, you have me really excited for that. Thanks for your comments and insight, I appreciate them very much.
The pickles sound promising!
I have done quick-pickled rhubarb with sauerkraut with pork, and lactic fermented knotweed has a similar ring.
(My past knotweed cookery: 1) I once believed an assertion that knotweed cooks up like asparagus. Lies. 2) I took up Arthur Lee Jacobsen’s statement “Pies can be made” despite its dubious tone. They can it is true be made, but they are like a snot-rhubarb plus some fibers for tensile strength like the Egyptians’ bricks.
I like the idea of keeping knotweed shoots crisp because I’m done with them slimy.)
Hi EUB,
My lactic fermented stalks where crisp and good. I used about 1 Tbsp non-iodised salt per pint of water.
But the fish cakes with knotweed stalks was also really good. The stalks just melt into the mix but add a really nice texture and flavour.
Yeah I’m going have to make some fish cakes with those, the brined peeled knotweed held texture perfectly. Adding vinegar immediately released the mucilage though, it was interesting to notice.
Yep I’m done with the slime too. As long as you don’t add vinegar to the brine the salt water will keep the knotweed crisp. Also thanks for the idea Jacqui!
Just whipped up my first batch of puree from sprouts of knotweed that I discovered last summer. I think “rhubarb with an earthy edge” describes it nicely. Not sure yet what I will do with it, but I really wanted to see what its all about.
This came up (via bird droppings?) in one of my box gardens, next to a rhubarb patch interestingly enough. This year I’m going to let some of it go to flower. Interesting article about knotweed: https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/japanese-knotweed.html
Bird droppings! I would not let it go to flower unless you are prepared for it to take over your yard. This is a horribly invasive plant.
I haven’t cooked with it, but since I have ID’ed it in my garden, I pull it up but leave a little growing so that I can take the tender tips, and I wash it, then put it in my smoothie.
I’ve read that it has a great amount of Resveretol !
Be careful with it. There are a lot of things you could put in your smoothie, use caution with allowing japanese knotweed to grow. It is the most aggressive plant I’ve ever seen.
I know of an area off of Hwy 61 going into St Paul where the county a few years ago covered a growth of it with heavy layers of thick carpet. The printed and laminated sign that they left to inform people of what they were doing to “eradicate” this invasive plant was all but faded and shredded from the seasons, yet the knotweed was rising happily from that thick bed of carpet.
I’ve collected knotweed, cooked, and puréed it. I sweetened it with a little maple syrup and just enjoyed eating it out of the container, because I couldn’t think what else to do with it.
I really appreciate all the ideas here in Allan’s work and in the comments. But here’s the question I want to ask anyone who would serve it to others: how do you get over the gross puke green color? It’s the strangest color of a fruit or vegetable I’ve ever seen. Just a really unappetizing grey-green. That doesn’t bother aanyone?
The color is part of the plant, it is not the most attractive, but it is what it is. Hide the color for unsuspecting diners by combining with colorful ingredients. Red rhubarb is the most obvious partner. Did you take a look at the jelly roll recipe?
I used it in strawberry jam and in raspberry jam as one would use rhubarb. In my chutney the colour is hidden by the brown sugar, tamarind and spices. In the fish cakes it’s not a problem. Indeed, in savoury dishes this is altogether less of a problem. Because yes … a knotweed tarte is a rather unattractive creation on its own… though slicing a few fresh strawberries on top goes a long way towards making it appealing and just a few raspberries will brighten up the colour..
How do you discard or use the leaves?
Discard the leaves, they’re not pleasant to eat.
Cleaning out the freezer this week, so I made 4 pints of purée and canned it as if it were rhubarb. I have more shelf space than freezer space. The flavor is very promising, thank you!
Knotweed is very invasive and can be dormant for over 2 years in a dried state. You should never compost any part of the plant. It spreads like bamboo. It can be burned or barries 4 feet under the ground. The best place to find information about containing it is when you google information from England. They have taken drastic measures there to limit its spread. Properties values drop and in some cases can not be sold until the knotweed has been eliminated. Tinctures for the root are used as a tincture to help support individuals with Lyme Disease. Information on knotweed used in Lymes can be found in “Healing Lyme” by Stephen Harrod Buchner. Some of the same supports needed for Lyme are also now needed to help support individuals with the Corona virus. It’s one of those good/bad plants. Should never plant it but wild harvest and be very responsible in disposing of left over plant material. I place a tarp under my table when harvesting and burn the plant material in my grill to make sure none of it escapes.
Can the new Springtime re ‘bumps’ (about 3/4 inch) be used ?
If so, what do you recommend ?
Yes they can–they’re the best when young. At that stage, they may be firm and not hollow yet. I suggest slicing them into 1/4 inch coins, a little lemon, salt, pepper and olive oil, maybe some fresh herbs. Have the salad raw with some fish poultry.
Knotweed was dropped into one of my garden boxes about 4 years ago, I find uses for it at every growth stage. When I gets bigger I garnish or line plates with the leaves.When it gets tall and sturdy I use it as strengthening poles for climbing plants like tomatoes or peppers. When it’s medium height I work it into flower arrangements. It is truly a plant that keeps giving all through the growing season!
Yes! Thank you so much for this. I had been scrolling around looking for knotweed recipes. I made this puree (although my stalks ended up being a bit tall and woody (even after some peeling) so I strained the puree. it’s fantastic! I would actively seek this out and make it again. Thank you so much! 🙂
It’s a great way to preserve knotweed. Good for making quickbreads too!
Pleas call it what it is- I am extremely allergic to it! It’s used in supplements like resveratol instead of expensive grape skins. I almost had to go to the ER- my throat and lips swelled up!
In this time of corona virus, this plant is a gift from God. The tincture made from Japanese Knotweed rhizomes is excellent for quelling inflammation (cytokine storms) in the lungs and other parts of the body. Lyme sufferers have utilized this for their uncontrolled inflammation and it’s excellent for the lung inflammation of today’s Covid19 patients.
Now if only conventional medicine would wake up to the power of plants.
Oh, they have. but the pharmaceutical corporations can’t make money off something you can grow in your yard. There is certainly academic value in isolating compounds and in the in vitro, animal, and human clinical trials, and a lot is learned, in the process but if the plant alone does as well as, if not better than the isolated compounds, they’re not going to tell you that. Instead, they’re going to tell you that the quantities of the compounds are uncertain in the plants (which is true) and you need to take the controlled dose in the pill, which is less true, considering that the isolated and concentrated compound is MUCH more likely to be dangerous than the concentration of the same compound found in the plant, which is why doses of pharmaceuticals have to be so carefully regulated. I realize that one cannot make the aforesaid generalization for all plant-inspired pharmaceutical compounds, but my research has shown it to be the case for more than one.
How do you prepare your tincture ?
I purchased the tincture already made from places like Great Cape herbs, Sage Women Herbs, etc. Let them do it right. But Stephen Buhner, one of the experts in herbs for Lyme, mentions a method on his website:
http://buhnerhealinglyme.com/basics/extracting-resveratrol/
I’m sure there are other sites that explain the process, as well.
I used a Norwegian recipe for rhubarb soup, replacing rhubarb with knotweed, and it was delicious. 250g Knotweed, 1+ liter water, 150g sugar, thickened it with 2tbs potato starch. Its good warm or cold, but when it was cold I could top it with a spoon of whipped cream. Kids loved it too.
Alan, if the goal is to just preserve the knotweed in the freezer, is there any reason not to omit the sugar and just freeze the unsweetened puree? I have 10 lbs of the stuff in my kitchen right now, and I’ve got to do something with it tomorrow!
Of course you can freeze it as is (in my opinion). I also just cut it up and freeze it raw, as I do with rhubarb but that takes up more freezer space than the purée because of all the air. And the big advantage is that if you freeze it unsweetened you can later incorporate it into sweet OR savoury recipes. I generally prefer savoury over sweet, so take this comment with a grain of salt, but I make a pitch for the fish cakes again – this year I made them with thai red curry paste and coconut and incorporated about 1/6 of the total of chopped knotweed stems. I think it would also be excellent in chicken or lamb/mutton brik (but I have not made this yet) or in tagine.
Hi Jacqui, that’s exactly it – I want to leave the option for savory on the table. (Pun intended) I was just wondering whether the sugar plays a role in making the purée more freezer worthy, but it sounds like no worries there. Currently, I am using about a cup of purée to thicken an asparagus bisque. The flavors of the asparagus and the knotweed seem to play pretty well. I am excited to try lactofermenting some of this – in my imagination that’s a slimy mess, but you say it worked?!? I’ll give it a whirl.
Lacto fermenting them is great.
Hi Carla,
I just ate a bowl of crispy knotweed stem dill pickles that were sitting on the counter after lunch (without dripping brine on my keyboard). I admit that the greyish green colour leaves a bit to be desired, but the texture is EXCELLENT. And if you just keep them under a 2,5% brine (DON’T ADD VINEGAR!) there is no slime to be seen. I peeled the stalks right to the top because they are easy to peel and the fibres can be rather annoying and then split them so that I could pack them together into the jar. I put some ramps leaves, some dill and a piece of hot pepper in the bottom of the jar and packed in the pieces of stem, most of them standing up, until I could’t get any more in. Then I filled the jar with my cooled 2,5% (non-iodised) salt brine (25 g per litre – this is easier in metric) and made sure that nothing floated up or poked out of the brine by placing a smaller jar in the mouth of my pickling jar and adding a bit of water to weigh it down. You can use a plastic bag full of brine too but I avoid plastic all I can.
Very simple, very good.
I very much appreciate your comment about the pharmaceutical industry.
Thanks for the details, Jacqui! I have a modest amount of lactofermentation experience, but it’s nice to know exactly what others are doing. I’ll stick to the 2.5%, and hey! I’ve got a few ramps in the fridge right now, so why not? Best regards.
Totally fine to omit the sugar if you want a savory option.
Japanese Knotweed has become a big problem in Ireland. There are signs put up on roadsides warning people not to cut it down as even a tiny fragment of the plant can take root. I think it is even illegal to put into compost bins.
Rhubarb is known to go well with mackerel so I was thinking knotweed might be a good accompaniment to mackerel too.
I could definitely see that, mackerel is such a nice, fatty fish. Try my lacto knotweed pickles I posted recently–really good with fish.
Do you know if knotweed flowers are edible?
They should be fine. I’ve eaten them raw.