Lets open up our bag of Spring Mix once again. I did talk about Mizuna a little earlier but I’ll repeat and add some extra notes to this green.
Mizuna (Fresh Express Spring Mix, Trader Joe’s Spring Mix)
Mizuna is a Japanese lettuce variety. It kind of reminds me of dandelion leaves. Somebody
described the taste of mizuna as a piquant, mild peppery flavor…slightly spicy, but less so than arugula. That of course is a sales pitch. No one knows what that means. Speak English. Is it mild or bitter? Does it taste like lettuce or a weed? Piquant means having a pleasantly sharp taste or appetizing flavor. All these different tastes mingle together and make a nice salad. They are probably saying it’s a little bitter. But another seed place calls it mildly flavored leaves.
Mizuna (Japanese: 水菜 ‘water greens’), also called Xiu Cai, Kyona, Japanese Mustard, Potherb Mustard, Japanese Greens, California Peppergrass, Spider Mustard, etc., is a Japanese name used primarily for cultivated varieties of Brassica rapa nipposinica but also for Brassica juncea var. japonica. Don’t you just love those sentences found in Wikipedia? Who can understand them?
Mizuna is generally mixed with other lettuces to enhance the appearance, flavor, and nutritional value of salad.
Serving Size 1.0 cup raw Calories 15; Sodium 15 mg 1%; Total Carbohydrates 3.0g 1%; Dietary Fiber 2.0g 8%; Sugars 1.0g;
Protein 2.0g
Vitamin A 120%; Vitamin C 70%; Calcium 6%; Iron 4%
Good points
- Very high in calcium
- Very high in dietary fiber
- Very high in iron
- Very high in manganese
- Very high in magnesium
- High in niacin
- Very high in potassium
- Very high in riboflavin
- High in thiamine
- Very high in vitamin A
- Very high in vitamin B6
- Very high in vitamin C
- Very high in vitamin E
You won’t find this in regular grocery stores except in the Spring Mix bags. I haven’t seen it at Farmer Markets like Whole Foods either. Some seed companies call it Japanese Mizuna Mustard Green Seeds. They really don’t look like our domestic mustard greens.
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