How to eat plantain (Plantago asiatica): these simple, practical home-cooking methods

Plantain (Plantago asiatica) is a common herbaceous plant in the genus Plantago, family Plantaginaceae, and it can be found along roadsides, on field ridges and on moist wasteland in most parts of our country. Its tender leaves and seedlings can be eaten as a wild vegetable; the flavor is fresh and fragrant with a slight hint of bitterness, making it a seasonal wild vegetable that many people enjoy in spring.

The most common way to eat it is as a cold dressed salad. After washing the picked tender leaves, blanch them briefly in boiling water, take them out, rinse in cold water and squeeze out the water, then add minced garlic, fragrant vinegar, light soy sauce and a little sesame oil and mix well. The blanching step is crucial, as it both reduces the bitterness and grassy smell and makes it safer to eat.

Besides serving it cold dressed, plantain can also be stir-fried, made into soup or cooked into congee. Chop the blanched tender leaves and mix them with beaten egg to fry into an egg pancake, or stir-fry them with shredded pork and minced garlic; the flavor is light and refreshing either way. You can also chop the tender leaves and cook them together with rice into a vegetable congee, then season it just before taking it off the heat. In some areas there is also the habit of drying plantain and steeping or decocting it in water as a tea substitute, which is mostly its use as a traditional Chinese herbal medicine.

There are a few things to note when eating it. When gathering it in the wild, avoid roadsides, areas near factories and places where pesticides may have been sprayed, and choose unpolluted young plants; plantain is rather cold in nature, so people with weak and cold spleen and stomach who are prone to diarrhea should not eat much of it; before eating, be sure to wash it clean and blanch it thoroughly. If you want to use it as a medicinal herb, it is advisable to consult a doctor or pharmacist first and eat it as appropriate according to your own constitution.