The benefits of myoga
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What myoga does
What this vegetable does
It is said to encourage sweating and settle the circulation of qi, and is suggested for summer heat and the first signs of a cold.
How to eat it
Sliced fine as a garnish or served with chilled somen it adds freshness, and it also works in stir-fries and dressed dishes.
A yakuzen note
Myoga is said to help settle the circulation of qi, and refreshes the body when taken during the humid season.
This vegetable, driedDried myoga ->
Myoga is pungent and warm, an aromatic vegetable held to settle the circulation of qi and clear the head. Its distinctive fresh scent and crisp bite are what it is loved for, and it suits daily care when you want to shift your mood or eat something light in hot weather. From a garnish for somen and chilled tofu to sweet-vinegar pickles and tempura, it is the Japanese summer aromatic, adding scent and colour.
TOC
When myoga is in season, its types, and how to choose it
If you want to enjoy what myoga does, it helps to know its season, its types and how to choose it. It is a ginger-family aromatic in season from summer into autumn, loved for its distinctive fresh scent and its plump shape.
In season from summer to autumn, and it is the flower bud you eat
Myoga belongs to the ginger family, like ginger itself, and what you eat is the flower bud that pushes up out of the soil. It is in season from summer into autumn, roughly June to October, and depending on when it appears it is sold as summer myoga or autumn myoga. Long loved in Japan, it is prized for its distinctive fresh scent, a light bitterness and a crisp bite. The scent goes quickly, so use it raw as a garnish or add it at the end of cooking to keep it.
Summer myoga, autumn myoga and myogatake
Myoga can be chosen by season and by the part you eat.
| kinds | What stands out |
|---|---|
| Summer myoga | Sold from early summer through summer. Small, with a fresh scent |
| Autumn myoga | Sold in autumn. Large and plump, with more to eat |
| Myogatake | The young stems, sold in spring. Tender, with a faint scent and pale colour |
For a garnish where you want the fresh scent, small summer myoga suits; for something to eat and for sweet-vinegar pickles, large autumn myoga. In spring, blanched young stems appear as myogatake, tender and pale. Choosing by season and by dish brings out what myoga has. The firm ones, before the bud opens, are the fresh ones.
How to choose them and how to take out the harshness
When picking out good myoga, these are the things to look for.
- Buds that are firm and tight, and plump
- Glossy and juicy right to the tip
- A vivid red, with little discolouring or bruising
To use myoga raw as a garnish, halve it lengthways and then cut it into fine shreds or thin rounds. Once cut, a quick dip in water holds back the harshness and the change of colour and keeps the crispness. Leave it too long and the scent goes, so a moment is enough. Scent is the point, so when you do cook it, do not overdo it and add it at the end. Cut off the hard base of the stem before use.
How to eat myoga
The fresh scent and crisp bite of myoga carry it from garnishes to pickles to tempura. Here are the usual ways.
As a garnish and as a sweet-vinegar pickle
Myoga is at its best raw, as a garnish. Shredded or cut into thin rounds and served with somen, chilled tofu or sashimi, its fresh scent lifts the dish. Combined with shiso, ginger and spring onion it makes a garnish made for a hot-weather table. Steeped in sweet vinegar it turns a bright cherry pink, good as a palate cleanser or for colour in a lunchbox. Chopped into natto, mekabu or a dressed salad it works as a note of scent. That clean scent also cuts through richer dishes.
In tempura, miso soup and egg dishes
Cooked, myoga loses some of its bitterness and turns soft and floury. Whole or halved lengthways, battered and fried as tempura, it gives you both scent and texture. Added at the end to miso soup or a clear soup, its fresh scent rises. Chopped and fried with egg, or mixed into a rolled omelette, it finishes with good colour. Added to rice cooked with seasonings, or to mixed rice, it makes a fragrant dish. Even cooked, keep it brief and it holds the scent that makes myoga myoga.
How to keep myoga
Myoga does badly in dry air and loses its scent quickly, so wrap it in damp kitchen paper, put it in a plastic bag and keep it in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. It keeps longer still in a container with a little water in it, lidded, the water changed now and then. Using it up soon is how you enjoy the scent. If you have a lot, shred it or slice it into rounds and freeze it in small portions, ready for garnishes and miso soup. Made into a sweet-vinegar pickle it keeps, ready as a palate cleanser or for colour.
Alongside this, it is worth knowing about The benefits of mitsuba an aromatic vegetable likewise held to help the circulation of qi, and one likewise used as a garnish and enjoyed for its scent, The benefits of shiso as a guide when building a table around aroma.
In season from summer into autumn, myoga is an aromatic vegetable whose fresh scent and crisp bite carry it through garnishes, sweet-vinegar pickles, tempura and miso soup. Use fresh-scented summer myoga, plump autumn myoga and tender myogatake according to the season and the dish and each shows its best. When you want to shift your mood, or to eat something light in hot weather, bring myoga to the table.
