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What is difference between spinach and Malabar spinach?
Malabar spinach (Basella alba or ruba, a redder variety) is actually not spinach at all. When cooked, though, Malabar spinach does look and taste a lot more like regular spinach. It doesn’t wilt as fast, though, and it holds up better in soups and stir-fries.
What does Malabar spinach taste like?
The nearly palm-sized leaves are fleshy, and when eaten raw they have a slight crunchiness and taste of lemon and pepper. When cooked, the leaves and stems taste more like spinach, although the texture is denser. Malabar spinach leaves can be substituted for true spinach in soups, curries, omelets and soufflés.
Is Malabar spinach good for you?
Health Benefits Malabar spinach is high in Vitamin A (100 grams contains roughly 8,000 units), Vitamin C, iron, and calcium. It has a high amount of protein for a plant and is also a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.
Is Malabar spinach as healthy as regular spinach?
It has a high amount of protein for a plant and is also a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium. Another good reason to eat Malabar spinach is that it has a good amount of antioxidants, particularly beta carotene and lutein, those naturally occurring chemicals that help keep your cells from aging.
Is Malabar spinach same as water spinach?
If the scientific names are too much information, let’s do it differently: Spinach is what Popeye ate, swamp / water spinach is kangkong or kangkung (also goes by the name morning glory) in Southeast Asia, and alugbati is the common name of Malabar / vine spinach.
Why it is called Malabar spinach?
Basella (the genus name) vine was part of every home in south India and the greens were cooked in different dishes. The plant is native to India and, in the rest of the world, is known as Malabar spinach or red vine spinach, though it does not belong to the spinach family.
Is Malabar spinach bitter?
The leaves of Malabar spinach are dark green, heart-shaped, and have a slightly glossy appearance. When most spinach varieties are turning bitter in the hot summer months, Malabar spinach is thriving. The leaves are thicker than spinach and have a mild taste of citrus and pepper.
Is Malabar spinach toxic?
The Malabar spinach berry fruit stain can also be used as a natural food colouring and is non-toxic.
Is Malabar spinach slimy?
Malabar spinach, known by a number of other names such as Ceylon spinach, red vine spinach, and climbing spinach, is a delicious and super nutritious vegetable that thrives in hot weather. Malabar spinach leaves are succulent and a bit slimy in a way similar to okra.
Can Malabar spinach cause kidney stones?
Eating too much spinach may result in the formation of calcium-oxalate, which can cause kidney stones.
Can I eat raw Malabar spinach?
Malabar spinach, Basella alba, is a popular green leafy vegetable in other parts of the world. The young leaves can be eaten raw mixed in a green salad, and steamed or boiled to be used like cooked spinach. Because of the mucilagenous nature, it can also be used to thicken soups and stews.
Is Malabar spinach good for blood pressure?
In addition to potassium, spinach is enriched with heart-friendly nutrients like folate and magnesium. The leafy wonder is also a good source of lutein. Lutein is instrumental in preventing thickening of walls of arteries, which helps reducing the risk of strokes and blood pressure.
Is Malabar spinach high in oxalic acid?
Just like spring spinach, Malabar spinach also contains oxalic acid (a natural-occurring substance found in some vegetables). Due to its climbing habit, Malabar spinach would be an excellent addition to a patio or vertical garden and would be very content growing in a pot with a trellis of some sort.
Is Malabar spinach high in oxalates?
Its tender leaves are used as a vegetable. The leaf also contains moderately high oxalate. The second-highest oxalate content in this group is Ceylon spinach or Malabar spinach (Basella rubra, 落葵, 皇宮菜).
What is the difference between red and green Malabar spinach?
Is spinach and kangkong the same?
Spinach has rounder-shaped leaves. Kangkong, also known as swamp spinach, have leaves that look like arrows. The leaves slightly flare from the pointed tips of the leaves towards the stem where it curls almost around the part where the stem meets the leaf, creating a narrow arrow shape.
What is Malabar spinach in English?
Other names for Malabar spinach include: Ceylon spinach, Vietnamese spinach (English); Saan Choy, Shan Tsoi, Luo Kai, Shu Chieh, Lo Kwai (Chinese); Tsuru Murasa Kai (Japanese); Mong Toi (Vietnamese); Paag-Prung (Thai); Genjerot, Jingga, Gendola (Indonesian).
What is Kangkong in English?
This plant is known in English as water spinach, river spinach, water morning glory, water convolvulus, or by the more ambiguous names Chinese spinach, Chinese watercress, Chinese convolvulus or swamp cabbage, or kangkong/kangkung in Southeast Asia and ong choy in Cantonese.
What is another name for Malabar spinach?
Basella alba goes by many other common names besides Malabar spinach, including Ceylon spinach, Indian spinach, vine spinach, and Malabar nightshade.
Where is Malabar spinach originated?
Native Origin: Asia; native from India to New Guinea. Naturalized in China, tropical Africa, and parts of South America. Commonly found in home gardens in Florida, USA. General History: Malabar Spinach has been widely used as food and medicine throughout Asia for centuries.
What is the scientific name of Malabar spinach?
Basella alba.
Is Malabar spinach a nightshade?
description. Malabar nightshade, also known as Malabar spinach, refers to twining herbaceous vines of the genus Basella (family Basellaceae).
Why is Malabar spinach slimy?
Malabar spinach leaves are succulent and a bit slimy in a way similar to okra. Some people find this texture delightful, and others distasteful, but in any case, the mucilage that causes the sliminess also makes Malabar spinach rich in soluble fiber and a helpful aid for digestion.
Can you eat spinach if it’s slimy?
Here’s the short answer: You definitely should not eat any slimy spinach you come across. Considering that contaminated spinach can potentially lead to food poisoning, it’s a good idea to toss any type of foul-looking greens — including those that have gone bad naturally.
Is spinach slippery?
A broad-leafed variety of spinach that is grown in Far Eastern countries for the shoots and leaves of the plant. Dark green in color with numerous ribs through the leaf, Malabar Spinach has a slimy consistency when cooked, resulting in it being referred to as slippery vegetable.
