Nappa

Napa or Na leafy greens are cultivated leaf vegetables that fulfill similar roles to the likes of lettuce, spinach, cabbage, chard, kale, chicory and so forth in Western kitchens. They have similar, or even superior, health-giving qualities to their Western cousins.

In Japanese cuisine they are primarily used in o-hitashi where they are parboiled, then dipped in cold water to retain colour, and then covered with dashi stock and shoyu. They are also commonly used in nabemono hotpot dishes, stir-fried as itamemono, in aemono and suimono soups.

The edible chrysanthemum leaf shungiku or kikuna actually originated in Europe. Essentially a spring vegetable, though it is now available year-round, it is commonly used with sukiyaki, it is strong tasting and should be boiled once and soaked in cold water before use, except in nabemono. Chiba, Osaka, Ibaragi, Gunma and Fukuoka are the main producers.