Kinsai/serina Chinese celery

Apium graveolens var. dulce

Kinsai has strong aroma and taste than those of Western celery (Apium graveolens L.), even after cooking. Kinsai's flavor is one of the strongest among all Asian vegetables we eat at home. Compared to common celery, kinsai has skinnier and longer stems, and both stems and leaves are darker green. When kinsai is not available, celery is usually called for as a substitute.

Kato Kiyomasa (1562-1611), a feudal lord of today's Kumamoto Prefecture, is said to have introduced kinsai to Japan, bringing it from Korea in the late 16th century. But use of kinsai did not become widespread due to its strong smell and taste. Even with milder Western celery, cultivation in Japan started only in the 19th century, mainly for Western ship crews, and it took until the 1950s-60s for the vegetable to finally become a relatively common ingredient at home as Western dishes gradually became popular. Kinsai, with its much stronger taste and aroma, is still not very common in Japan.

Kinsai is rich in beta-carotene (1800 µg/100 g), whose antioxidant property is believed to control cancer cell proliferation. Carotene becomes a lipid solution Vitamin A in the body, meaning the nutrient is better absorbed when taken with oil. Vitamin A also maintains skin and mucus health. Moreover, kinsai is rich in minerals, including potassium (360 mg) and calcium (140 mg). Potassium helps get rid of excess sodium from the body and is useful for controlling hypertension.

In the US, kinsai is found at Chinese and Korean grocery stores.

19 kcal/100 g; 93.5% water, 1.1% protein, 0.4% fat, 3.5% carbohydrate, 1.2% ash

Recipes with kinsai

• Gyoza no pirikara-nabe / mildly spicy hot pot with jiaozi dumplings and kimchi
• Hotate no mazegohan / steamed rice mixed with scallops
• Kaki no karaage sarada / deep-fried oyster salad
• Yukimi-nabe / hot pot with tofu and grated daikon radish
• Chapuche / japchae stir-fried vermicelli and vegetables
• Unagi no mushizushi / steamed sushi with grilled eel

Try kinsai in the following recipes

• Tosho chaamen / dao xiao chao mian / fried hand-shaven noodles
• Shiifuudo to daizu moyashi no kankoku mushi / haemul jjim / steamed seafood and soybean sprouts Korean style
• 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
  
• Kaisen chukadon / Chinese-style seafood saute over steamed rice 
• Nanohana no namuru / field mustard namul salad (gochujang flavor) 
• Sakana no tochimushi / steamed fish with black beans

(Last updated: August 29, 2017)