Ceylon Spinach – Love Me Tender

Pluck the leaves from the stalks, steam them lightly, and they will melt in your mouth.WORDS BY ARTHUR BOVEY, PHOTOGRAPHS BY SHIRLEY KERLE. Published in Australian Rare Fruit Review, Jan 2006

There are at least 3 different types of Ceylon spinach and I only have two in my garden: Basella rubra (red stalk) and Basella alba (green stalk). It is also known as Malabar spinach, Indian spinach and in Vietnamese:Mong Toi , and Chinese: Shan Tsoi.

Ceylon Spinach is the most used plant in our garden over the warmer months when we can’t grow European type vegetables. Luckily, we think it tastes identical to the European type spinach, and therefore my wife, Wynn, accepted it readily, and during the summer we can eat Ceylon Spinach 5 days out of the seven.

We eat it mainly as the green part of our 4 vegetable main meal. Lightly boiled or steamed, its volume is reduced enormously, so even one cooked spoonful represents many leaves. Wynn prefers the green stalked type variety to the red stalked variety, as it has larger leaves, (up to 200 mm) and fewer leaves need to be gathered for a meal. We cannot detect any difference between these two types of spinach, in taste or texture. Both are smoother to eat, if the leaf is cooked without its stalk.

In my garden Ceylon spinach is self-seeding, and some would call it a weed, which has to be controlled. Previously I had installed a trellis for it to grow on. The advantages of a trellis are, that the spinach is easier to pick, and saves space, but Ceylon Spinach is a creeper, and also a good ground-cover which controls weeds, so we now grow it round our trees. It will put extra roots down where it touches the soil and I think it grows more vigorously this way. As nothing is perfect, the spinach has to be controlled when growing horizontally, as it charges off the beds or up the low trees, where it can catch in the mower or drag the lower tree limbs down. Also you can not spray the trees, even with white-oil, if you wish to harvest the spinach.

Growing
Ceylon spinach will grow from seeds, or stem cuttings. It will transplant, but does not like being moved. I find a shortened one litre milk carton with the bottom corners cut out and filled with 60% compost and 40% coarse sand is a good propagating container. Just add a few seeds. Plant out the seedlings as soon as the weather starts to warm. Thin out to one seedling, and then plant out the whole carton’s root system, before it gets too big (less than 0.3 m). Most seedlings will grow readily; and fast if put in good soil, and liberally watered.

Now be patient
If you pick the leaves before the plant has grown 3 or 4 m, it will stunt growth, flower and go to seed. Two plants, if allowed to grow well before picking, should keep a family of 2 or 3 people in fresh greens all through the summer, but never over-pick a vine, rather plant more vines. They grow in full sun or semi-shade.

Some people eat the leaves raw, but I find them slimy, and much prefer raw Sweet Leaf. Ceylon spinach is great in quiches, stir fries and steamed. I’m sure there are many other dishes they would be suitable in. One friend did try cooking the main stems, cut into 30 mm lengths, and her comment was, “fibrous!” Another friend only takes the last 0.5cm of new-growth tips, preferably red stalk. Here the leaves are only small, and the stem would represent most of the bulk. To me, stalks spoil the tenderness of a leaf only dish, possibly because Wynn only cooks them very lightly.

Greens with eggs on toast
Dice a handful of leaves for each serve. Lightly steam the leaves until tender, but still light green. Whisk in 1-2 beaten eggs for each serve and gently cook until set. Serve on toast.

Jungle Slaw
Mix half a grated onion, 1 handful of sliced Ceylon Spinach, 1 handful diced cabbage, 1 handful of tender beans cut into slivers, 1 grated carrot, half cup diced pineapple, half a green capsicum, cut finely. Toss to combine with half a cup mayonnaise, and half cup unsalted peanuts. Serve on a bed of Ceylon spinach leaves. For extra flavour, lightly toast, or lightly grill the peanuts.