Japanese Knotweed with Lamb Sausage

Today we are going to eat an exotic plant that is actually more native than the contents of, say, a guacamole. We’re talking about Japanese knotweed, which many consider an invasive threat from the eastern plant kingdom in association with Indian knapweed (also edible) and giant hogweed (poisonous). It currently grows a lot in damp woodlands, especially fond of ditches. That’s where scissors and plastic bag help a lot on the weekend walk.

So I collect maybe 20-30 of the shoots of the plant, about 15-20 cm from the top. The top two to three leaves come with it, they can be eaten raw as well as processed, just like the hollow stems. The taste of the raw cabbage is slightly acidic - oxalic acid - and is somewhere between rhubarb and chard. Interesting. The plant is easy to process. Only briefly blanched, already ready for use. An attempt to prepare the cabbage as a vegetable in curry cream is already quite good, but it does not look so attractive. Therefore, when I make the right dish, I mix the leaves into mashed potatoes.

I make that from a few floury potatoes. While those are cooking, I take a small bulb of young garlic and saute the cloves in good olive oil on low. At the end, they join the pan and continue to saute briefly in agave syrup.

The knotweed is defoliated except for the young, still rolled leaves at the tip. I blanch the larger leaves briefly, as well as the lower stems - so that the stems dip into the hot water as a bundle and the leaves at the tip still remain fresh. The stems turn a light color. I set them aside for a moment. Now 6 lamb sausages in the pan, they take maybe 10 minutes to fry. Meanwhile, I peel the potatoes and mash them into puree. the blanched, chopped knotweed leaves are added, as is a good stick of butter and orderly fleur de sel.

Now everything is almost ready - I put the blanched stalks with the lower end briefly into the pan, then I arrange everything together with a few leaves of arugula on the plates.

A delicious meal for two!

sauteed Japanese knotweed tips with potato mash and bratwurst, gourmet cuisine