Petasites japonicus
Origin: Japan
Improvement status: Unknown
Cuttings per packet: 2 for $12
BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED
Life cycle: Perennial
Fuki, or Japanese Butterbur, is an extremely resilient, prolific and eye-catching plant. Its leaves rival rhubarb in size, and look something like a cross between rhubarb and burdock. It's a perennial vegetable with a long history of traditional use in Japan, including as medine and for paper-making. Long valued as one of the first spring vegetables, its large flower buds burst out of the ground like purple pinecones before almost any other vegetation sprout (about the same time Welsh onions emerge).
This is one of those vegetables that straddle the line between food and medicine. Like most wild vegetables, it has an impressive range of nutrients. It's high in fiber and rich in minerals like potassium, magnesium and calcium, with good amounts of Vitamin C, various B vitamins, manganese, and healthful antioxidants like chlorogenic and fukinolic acid. But perhaps the most important compound is natural sesquiterpene called petasin, known for its anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmotic, and anti-allergenic effecs. Petasin is used in migraine prevention, treating allergic rhinitis (inflamed, runny nose), and even against cancer, with recent research showing it has the potential to disrupt tumor metabolism and growth without toxicity to non-cancerous cells. It may be protective against Alzeimer's disease as well. a phytochemical that reduces inflammation and protects neurons. It has been shown to inhibit tumor growth and prevent Alzheimer’s. For all that and more, fuki is beginning to increase in popularity, showing up at some of the better nurseries, especially ones that focus on perennial edibles.
Fuki has a very pronounced and unique flavor. The fresh young flower buds and the long slender stems are the main products. While valued in Japanese cuisine, the typical American palate is unaccustomed to this flavor. Though often described as described as bitter, it might better be described as sharp, and our grower calls it "more tangy and floral than standard bitterness." Almost all preparations involve peeling the stalks and heating them (boiling or steaming are common) to destroy the toxic alkaloids that contribute to the bitter flavors. Soaking in water with ash or baking soda before cooking is also traditional, a technique known as aku-nuki (literally "harshness removal").
This is not a vegetable like kale that you can just pluck and toss in any old dish, but recipes for traditional dishes abound, including fuki-miso (fuki stir-fried in miso and eaten over hot rice), kakiage (flowerhead tempura), fuki-no-shiraae (tofu-dressed salad), fuki tsukudani (soy-simmered stalks), fuki-no-nitsuke (simmered in dashi, soy sauce, and sake), or kinpira fuki (sweet-spicy stir-fried strips, similar to kinpira gobo, made with burdock root).
Fuki plays a role in traditional folklore as well. The indigenous Ainu people of Hokkaido and other northern islands refer to the ancient inhabitants of their homeland (which they call Ezo) as Korpokkur, or "people who dwelt below ground," but the name can also be translated as "people beneath the fuki," so they are commonly depicted with fuki leaves in art and design. Sometimes they appear as little fairy-like people using giant fuki leaves for shelter.
These fuki rhizomes come to us from longtime EFN grower Michael Billington of Montana.
GROWING TIPS: Fuki likes shade, moist soil, and plenty of space to stretch out each year. A single plant can reach over 4 feet tall and 5 feet wide. It will grow from USDA Zones 5-9.
From Michael - "Fuki is capable of aggressively spreading by rhizome. It is very important to not plant it near waterways or near parts of your garden that you want to remain fuki-free. This tendency to dominate can also be a useful tool by using Fuki to outcompete and shade out unwanted plants. Planting this crop into raised beds or hugelkultures is a great way to keep it contained. I've never seen evidence of it spreading by seed.
You propagate Fuki by planting sections of the rhizome. Fuki buds where two rhizome segments meet. Therefore, it is suggested to divide the rhizomes so that at least one whole rhizome segment remains uncut. Additionally, you may replant the crowns that rise from the rhizome. The growth tips of the finger-thick rhizomes are very pointy and hard. As a result, Fuki is quite capable of growing in stony ground. This is a great crop to slip into a stony underused corner of your farm or garden."
NOTE: The photo of the late-season leaves is from Joi Ito and is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Others are public domain or Michael's.
