Mitsuba (Japanese condiments)

Japanese condiments are always mild, and that is also true for mitsuba (Cryptotaenia japonica), a herb usually translated as "trefoil" or "Japanese wild chervil." Of course, as in other cases where we found no one on one similarity, we should use the Japanese name and speak about "mitsuba." This name means literally "three leaves," and indeed, one leaf of mitsuba consists of three smaller ones. The deeply-cut leaves are attached to slender green stalks.

[Mitsuba]

Mitsuba is related to parsley and celery. The taste is like mild chervil. Mitsuba is nicely fragrant. The flavor is clean and refreshing.

Mitsuba originated in Japan, but also in China, Korea and North-America. It used to be a wild plant which grew at the waterside in mountainous areas, but it has been cultivated since the Edo period.

The best season for mitsuba is spring (March), but nowadays thanks to hothouse cultivation it is available the whole year. The highest production of mitsuba is in Chiba and Aichi prefectures, followed by Ibaraki and Shizuoka.

Mitsuba is used as a flavoring in soups (miso soup and clear soup) and egg custards (chawanmushi). In those cases, it is coarsely chopped. Whole mitsuba is used on one-pot dishes (nabemono) and tempura. It is also used in salads. Mitsuba may be lightly parboiled, but if too much heat is used, the taste becomes bitter, according to Tsuji (Japanese Cooking, A Simple Art, p. 95).