Shungiku garland chrysanthemum

Glebionis coronaria

An edible chrysanthemum with a distinctive taste and aroma. This cold-season vegetable is a common ingredient in various nabe hot pots. It is also eaten raw as salad, blanched, sauteed, deep-fried, and so on. Just like with any strong-flavored vegetable, shungiku's taste softens somewhat when cooked or combined with oil or oil-rich ingredients such as nuts.

Shungiku's distinctive aroma comes from its essential oil constituents, including perillaldehyde (most abundantly found in shiso perilla leaves) and α-pinene (found in pine resin); they condition the stomach and intestines and help with poor digestion and excess stomach acid. The aroma also covers up the smell of meat and fish, so it makes good sense to add this vegetable to hot pots using these ingredients, which could cause a heavy stomach after eating too much.

Shungiku contains more β-carotene (4500 μg/100 g) and calcium (120 mg/100 g) than spinach (4200 μg, 49 mg, respectively), and shugiku's iron content (1.7 mg/100 g) is pretty close to that of spinach (2.0 mg).

Shungiku is also rich in Vitamin K (raw: 250 µg/100 g; blanched: 460 µg/100 g), and those who take warfarin (an anticoagulant) need to watch how much shungiku they eat. Consuming a succession of meals featuring food with high levels of Vitamin K counteracts the medicine. As with other leafy greens, volume goes down significantly when cooked. So watch out when eating nabe hot pot and sukiyaki, etc.

22 kcal/100 g; 91.8% water, 2.3% protein, 0.3% fat, 3.9% carbohydrate, 1.4% ash

Recipes with shungiku

• Ginnan to shungiku, kani no karashi sumiso-zoe / gingko nuts, garland chrysanthemum and crab with mustard vinegar miso sauce
  
• Suigyoza no chige-fu nabe / jjigae-style hotpot with shui jiao dumplings
  
• Horenso to shungiku, kikka no ohitashi / spinach, garland chrysanthemum and chrysanthemum flowers in light broth
• Kaki to shungiku no shiraae / persimmon and garland chrysanthemum in tofu dressing
• Satoimo to shungiku, age no tonyu misoshiru / soy milk miso soup with baby taro root, garland chrysanthemum and thin deep-fried tofu 
• Shungiku to ringo no mizore-ae / garland chrysanthemum and apple with grated daikon radish and sweetened vinegar 
• Satsumaimo to shungiku no gomaae / Japanese sweet potato and garland chrysanthemum in sesame dressing
  
• Gobo to shungiku no misoshiru / miso soup with burdock root and garland chrysanthemum
• Satsumaimo no tenpura, shungiku to gobo, ebi no kakiage / deep-fried Japanese sweet potato & mixed tempura with garland chrysanthemum, burdock root and prawns
• Ebi-shinjo to yasai ribon no nabe / hot pot with prawn-fish dumplings and vegetable ribbons
• Chirimushi / steamed fish, tofu, vegetables and mushrooms, with citrus-flavored soy sauce
• Kani, shungiku, yurine no kakiage / mixed tempura with crabmeat, garland chrysanthemum and lily bulb
  
• Sumooku saamon to shungiku no mazegohan / steamed rice with smoked salmon and garland chrysanthemum
  
• Shungiku to atsuage, benibana no yuzu-remon-ae / garland chrysanthemum, deep-fried tofu and safflower petals in yuzu-lemon dressing
• Shungiku, moyashi, shiozake no ohitashi / garland chrysanthemum, bean sprouts and grilled salted fish marinated in light broth
  
• Kaki no dote-nabe / hot pot with oysters, broiled tofu and vegetables with miso
• Kaki to shungiku no kurumizu-ae / persimmon and garland chrysanthemum in sweetened vinegar with walnuts
  
• Shungiku no hana to horenso no ohitashi / garland chrysanthemum flowers and spinach in light broth
  
• Shungiku to yaki-kamaboko no gomadaregake / garland chrysanthemum and grilled fishcake topped with sesame dressing
  
• Kani to shungiku no sunomono / crab and garland chrysanthemum in sweetened rice vinegar dressing
• Shungiku to shimeji no ohitashi / garland chrysanthemum and shimeji mushrooms in light broth
• Shungiku sauce / garland chrysanthemum sauce
• Ishikari-nabe / Ishikari hot pot with salmon, tofu and vegetables
• Shungiku to shirasu no mazegohan / steamed rice mixed with garland chrysanthemum and dried young sardine

Try shungiku in the following recipes

• Koyadofu no ageyaki to renkon no horenso-an / fried freeze-dried tofu and lotus root with spinach dashi sauce
  
• Koyadofu-iri seri to koebi no chijimi / jijigmae Korean savory pancake with freeze-dried tofu, water dropwort and bay shrimp
• Tosho chaamen / dao xiao chao mian / fried hand-shaven noodles
• Tonyu miso nikomi udon / hot-pot udon wheat noodles in red miso and soy milk broth 
• Kuzukiri to daikon, kani no sarada / kudzu arrowroot starch noodle, daikon radish and crabmeat salad, with citrus-flavored soy sauce dressing
• Kankoku mitsuba no shiraae / cham namul with tofu dressing
• Atsuage to mizuna no ponzujoyu-ni / deep-fried tofu and mizuna simmered in citrus soy sauce
  
• Horenso, moyashi, sumookusaamon no ohitashi / spinach, mung bean sprouts and smoked salmon marinated in light broth
  
• Yosenabe / hot pot with assorted ingredients
  
• Nameshi / steamed rice mixed with leafy greens
• Yukimi-nabe / hot pot with tofu and grated daikon radish
• Keeru no kurumiae / kale in walnut dressing 

(Last updated: January 9, 2019)