Eat Kudzu

[skchai]

In East Asia (where the blame for kudzu originally lies), the root is prized for its many culinary uses. The purified starch from its roots considered to be the best thickener for sauces, and is sold at very high prices in Japan. Its roasted roots make a very popular tea in Korea. The ground up roots can also be used to make noodles.

Why hasn't someone harvested all the vines clogging up the roadsides in the Southeast and made millions?

I thought about this after I posted a review of a Honolulu kudzu restaurant in the Hawai`i group, then realized now bizarre the whole idea might sound to someone elsewhere in the U.S.

Or would it? Are there culinary uses for kudzu in the Southeast?

[phlawless]

At the State Farmer's Market in NC I recently bought some kudzu jelly, and to tell you the truth, it wasn't exceptional: kinda tasted like apple.

[Malawry]

There is no way humans could possibly consume all the kudzu in NC. Not even if they were limited to the kudzu found along I-40.

[skchai]

At the State Farmer's Market in NC I recently bought some kudzu jelly, and to tell you the truth, it wasn't exceptional: kinda tasted like apple.

To be honest kudzu by itself (unless it's roasted) is really pretty bland. If it's the root we're talking about, it might be used instead of pectin to thicken the jelly, but you'd probably need another fruit to give it any real flavor.

I was thinking something more along the lines of, I don't know, using the starch as a thickener for gumbo, burgoo or brunswick stew - it never lumps up! I realize it's kind of a stretch, but all that raw material out there and a need to get rid of it, some creative ways of using kudzu for food might be the proverbial two birds . . .

I did find a website that has some recipes for using kudzu:

Kudzu Cuisine

[Mayhaw Man]

Have you ever noticed how you don't see kudzu in the deep woods, but only on the roadsides? This is because animals (deer in particular, along with cows grazing in pastures) love the stuff.

Asian pharmacists also dry and powder it and put it into tea or capsule form as a "cure" for alcoholics, as it apparently dulls the want for alcohol. I googled on this fascinating subject and found that if any of you have any alcoholic hamsters, this might be the stuff to save them from the road to ruin and put them back on the path to helping the little rodents back onto the path to rightousness.

[Al_Dente]

Have you ever noticed how you don't see kudzu in the deep woods, but only on the roadsides? This is because animals (deer in particular, along with cows grazing in pastures) love the stuff.

Asian pharmacists also dry and powder it and put it into tea or capsule form as a "cure" for alcoholics, as it apparently dulls the want for alcohol. I googled on this fascinating subject and found that if any of you have any alcoholic hamsters, this might be the stuff to save them from the road to ruin and put them back on the path to helping the little rodents back onto the path to rightousness.

"Researchers at Harvard Medical School injected 71 golden Syrian hamsters, who by nature have an unusual craving for alcohol, with daidzin, kudzu's active ingredient."

Huh. Who knew?

[Malawry]

If anybody performs the Kudzu Switch (ala Folger Switch) on my cocktail or wine, I'm never speaking to them again.

[mudbug]

Why hasn't someone harvested all the vines clogging up the roadsides in the Southeast and made millions?

I know your post is specifically in regards to the Southeast but here's some interesting additional information. Did you know Kudzu is illegal to buy, sell or plant in most US states?

But there are plants like this in every country. Take ong choy (water spinach) for example... I've often wondered the same thing about why, since it's considered an noxious weed in Florida and is taking over the swamps, someone doesn't harvest it and sell it. It's soooo good and a consistent favorite vegetable in the Asian community.

But then, there are plants like this in every country. Considered weeds in one and consumed as a common vegetable in another.

[Pan]

A case in point is that fennel is expensive in stores in San Francisco even though it grows all over the area as a weed, and it doesn't seem like anyone is actually using it.

(Or at least, that was the case a few years ago.)

[Mayhaw Man]

Kudzu was brought to the Southeast on purpose as a cover crop and as an erosion prevention tool. It has huge amounts of nitrogen in it and was intended as an easy to grow replacement for clover, the traditional nitrogen bearing cover crop for many row crop fariming operations (particularly cotton, which depletes soil like crazy and requires huge amounts of nitrogen and ammonia to grow well). Farmers soon found that it was more trouble than it was worth as kudzu grows too well in the summer time and freezes back to the root at the first killing frost in the winter. Since the whole point of a cover crop is to have something that grows in the wintertime, kudzu was a total failure.

All you need to know about the brief and glorious history of Kudzu in the South

[herbacidal]

Have you ever noticed how you don't see kudzu in the deep woods, but only on the roadsides? This is because animals (deer in particular, along with cows grazing in pastures) love the stuff.

Asian pharmacists also dry and powder it and put it into tea or capsule form as a "cure" for alcoholics, as it apparently dulls the want for alcohol. I googled on this fascinating subject and found that if any of you have any alcoholic hamsters, this might be the stuff to save them from the road to ruin and put them back on the path to helping the little rodents back onto the path to rightousness.

can't help thinking about gingko nuts, in much the same way.

(they're used in congee, the small white-yellow spheres)

'cept used to call them dingleberries when i was a kid. still do.

all the asian folks who know better (grannies and the like) would go and pick them all up off the ground.

[skchai]

Thanks for all the great examples. This is becoming a very nice thread on weeds-to-eat!

How about other examples: purslane and the much-maligned chickweed. Both delicious if used correctly. You don't have to be the late Euell Gibbons to love them. . .

Brooks, thanks for the wikipedia link. Very informative! The University of Alabama's "Amazing Story of Kudzu" is also very useful. It contains the poignant story of Channing Cope of Georgia, who championed the "miracle vine" for many years, only to see public opinion turn against his beloved kudzu. . .

[Tom Maicon]

Not a culinary use, but I've been told kudzu is the best cure for a hangover.

[skchai]

Thanks, Tom. I wish Honolulu had a web site like yours!

[Tom Maicon]

Thanks, skchai. That was a very nice compliment.

ps I wish I was in Honolulu!