The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
KUDZU IT’S EDIBLE, SO WHY AREN’T WE EATING IT?
You’ll find kudzu draping the scenery off the interstates and climbing that abandoned barn in your neighbor’s backyard. If you sit long enough in one place in the South, you might even find kudzu growing up your leg — the vine can grow up to 12 inches a day.
But, one place you’re unlikely to find kudzu is on your plate. Why is that?
After all, in today’s culinary climate of favoring locally grown produce, shouldn’t we eat an edible leaf that seemingly grows everywhere?
“I’ve never cooked with or used kudzu, because none of the farmers I source from have ever had it on their lists,” said Jarrett Stieber of the pop-up restaurant Eat Me Speak Me, who has a reputation for using local, seasonal ingredients. “But, I’m open to cooking with it. I’ve used similar things like sweet potato and pumpkin leaf, which are popular in Southeast Asian and some African cuisines.”
Is eating kudzu even possible? Yes, say experts, as long as you know what you’re doing. “Kudzu seeds and seed pods aren’t edible, but the leaves, roots, flowers and vine tips are,” said Raleigh Saperstein, senior horticulturist at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
Darryl Wilson is a North Carolina forager and entrepreneur whose business, Carolina Kudzu Crazy, focuses on edible applications of the vine. He started by feeding the leaves to pigs and rabbits before moving on to humans, avoiding the larger leaves, which can be too tough.
“We use the small leaves in recipes that call for spinach,” Wilson said. Kudzu has a mild, spinach-like flavor, and Wilson said that it absorbs other flavors well.
Kudzu flowers may hold the most potential for those looking to get something tasty out of the vine. Yes, kudzu has flowers. They’re small and purple, and blossom beneath the leaves, which is why they’re not easily noticed. The vine generally flowers in late July through early September, and hanging vines are more likely to have flowers than those growing along the ground.
Carolina Kudzu Crazy also has developed grilling glazes, stirfry glazes, both sweet and spicy jellies, and a pancake syrup, all using kudzu blossoms that impart a flavor that tastes like a grapeapple combination to some, and strawberry-apple to others, Wilson said.
Thinking of testing out your own kudzu recipes? Saperstein cautions against just pulling off the highway with a pair of shears. “Like any foraged food, avoid plants that might have been sprayed with herbicides, or are growing alongside major roadways, where they could be contaminated with vehicle exhaust,” she said.
Kudzu originated in East Asia. It was first imported to the United States from Japan in 1876, and made its way to the Southeast within a decade. So, although kudzu has become iconically Southern, in order to find an edible application for it, perhaps it’s best to look to the culinary traditions from where kudzu is rooted.
“I have cooked with powder of kudzu root when I was in Asia,” said Jason Liang, the sushi chef behind Decatur’s Brush Sushi Izakaya and the newly opened Japanese fast-casual spot Momonoki in Midtown. “The powder is mixed with water, then added to thicken the sauce or soup. It doesn’t have color or taste of its own.”
In addition to kudzu starch’s use as a cooking thickener, Liang noted that dehydrated kudzu root commonly is used in Chinese medicine to relieve hangovers, upset stomachs, headaches and flu symptoms.
While kudzu is unlikely to be the next locavore craze, Atlanta diners may see some dishes using the vine creep onto menus around town.
“I’m sure it would go well with other veggies, and summer fruits, too, like peach, blueberry and fig,” Stieber speculated.
And, Matt Marcus, the new chefowner of Watershed, is testing culinary applications for kudzu.
“We are making powders, oils, papers, jams and more while trying to figure out the sweet spot between flavor and color,” said Marcus, who’s also playing around with okra-esque kudzu “slime” in his kitchen. “I think most people don’t use kudzu in town, because of the stigma it has gotten as an invasive vine. It’s also not easy to manipulate, and the yield is very low for usable raw product without refinement.”
Perhaps, the vine just doesn’t have enough going for it to make it worth the trouble. After all, Liang said, “It doesn’t have much taste, and no one seems to care about it. Maybe we all have enough things to eat already.”