Water Spinach

Ipomoeaaquatica

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By Elizabeth Schneider

Published 2001

  • About

Also water convolvulus, swamp morning glory, swamp cabbage (not to be confused with Sabal palmetto, also known by that name), ong choy and variations (Chinese and Hawaiian), kangkung and variations (Indonesian, Malaysian, Philippine), pak bung (Thai), rau muong (Vietnamese)

Araft of water-grown vegetables flourishes worldwide. Yet rice, wild rice, and water cress -are the only aquatic plants that bob up regularly in kitchens in the United States and Canada. Now water spinach, as the number of names listed above indicates, lands in the grocery baskets of many new Americans. But until recently, this leafy relative of the sweetpotato, a member of the Convolvulaceae, was primarily a mainstay in Asia.