- Type
- Leafy Greens
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Season
- Spring
- Sowing
- From seed
Golden lace patrinia
Patrinia scabiosifolia
Iridoid glycosides · a hillside green that flowers yellow across summer fields
Golden lace patrinia is a perennial that flowers yellow in drifts across hills and fields through summer and autumn. It stands well above waist height, and the small blooms spread in flat sprays that catch the eye from a distance. What gets eaten is the young shoot that comes out of the ground in spring, blanched in boiling water and then leached in several changes of cold water before it is dressed, or the bitterness stays. The root smells of aged bean paste, which is exactly why the Donguibogam entered the plant as 敗醬. That entry sits in the Herb section and records the shape as well: it grows on hills and in fields, and the root is purple and resembles bupleurum. Left in a plot it seeds itself readily and comes up in the same place the following year. The flowers last a long time and draw bees and butterflies, which makes one corner of a plot serve as both a flower bed and a shoot bed. Ttukgal, the white-flowered species in the same genus, is blanched and eaten the same way.
Year-Round Calendar
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Where It Grows
- Main producer It grows wild in the mountains of North China and Northeast China and is also grown in fields, so the harvest here is the largest.
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Wild population
Common in sunny spots in hills and open country throughout the country. Harvest April, May
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- Wild population Common in grassland from Honshu down to Kyushu, and long treated as an autumn flower.
- Wild population Found in the Far East and southern Siberia.
Its range is the temperate belt of East Asia, taking in the Korean Peninsula, China, Japan and the Russian Far East. China grows it in fields on the largest scale, while elsewhere it is mostly picked or dug up in hills and open country, so there are no production figures by country.
- Optimum
- 15~25℃
- Range
- 0~30℃
- Hardiness
- Hardy
A perennial of sunny foothills and grassland. It winters over in the root, so it stands up well to cold and grows even where the soil is not rich. It grows tall, so summer wind and rain knock it over easily.
Harvested 2–3 years after planting. In the year it is sown it puts out leaves only; from the second year the flower stalk goes up and the shoots thicken. Once it has taken hold in a spot, it carries on for several years.
In Korea Nationwide
Common in sunny spots in hills and open country throughout the country. The young shoots are picked in April–May.
How to grow
- Light
- Five or six hours of sun a day. In shade the flower stalk comes up thin
- Soil and depth
- Free-draining soil at least 30cm deep. It does well without rich ground
- Spacing
- 40 to 50cm between plants. It passes a metre in height, so crowding makes them lean and fall
- Watering
- Watch it only through the first summer. Once rooted it largely carries itself on rainfall
- Feeding
- A handful of compost around the base in early spring. Too much and the stems run up and topple
- Harvest
- April and May, cutting the shoot at the base before it reaches a hand-span. Do not take every shoot from a plant; leave a few stems to flower
What makes the difference. Blanch the picked shoots in boiling salted water, then leach for several hours in cold water changed repeatedly. Cut that short and the bitterness stays
Why this one is harder. It grows tall and goes down in summer wind and rain. Cutting the top of the stems once in early summer makes it branch low and stand better
Common problems
- Aphids You will see They mass on the shoot tips and everything turns sticky What to do Wash them off with a jet of water; if they return, use a soap or oil spray. Use nothing on plants whose shoots you will pick
- Powdery mildew You will see A white dust settles on the leaves after the rainy season What to do Strip the lower leaves for airflow and remove affected leaves
- Slugs You will see Shoot edges grazed overnight What to do Collect them by hand in the evening and ring the plant with diatomaceous earth
This page describes how a crop is grown and used. It does not claim health effects for any food, nor is it intended to prevent or treat disease. Component and study notes are references only and do not mean the same result occurs in people. Consult a medical professional about health concerns.
Health Benefits
The old record — paejang (敗醬). The Donguibogam lists the plant in its Herb section as 敗醬 and gives the Korean name as matari. It records a neutral nature with a note that some call it slightly cold, a bitter and salty taste, and no toxicity. It grows on hills and in fields, and the root is purple and resembles bupleurum. The name, the text says, comes from its smell of aged bean paste, and the root is dug in the eighth lunar month and dried in the sun. What an old medical text wrote differs from how it is judged today.
Saponins and iridoids of the genus Patrinia. Repeated analyses report triterpene saponins and iridoid glycosides isolated from Patrinia species, with the highest levels in the root. These are compositional analyses.
Bitterness and blanching. The bitterness of the young shoot fades after blanching and leaching in cold water, as the water-soluble compounds leave. Patrinia eaten as a green has already been through that step. This concerns cooking behaviour.
Nutrition
- Iridoid glycosides (distributed in the root) — a group of glycosides reported across the genus Patrinia
- Triterpene saponins (distributed in the root) — saponins isolated from the genus Patrinia
- Dietary fibre (present in the young shoots) — the fibre behind the bite of the blanched green
- Beta-carotene (present in the deep green young leaves) — the pigment that runs with the darker leaf colour
A green that must be blanched and leached The young shoots are strongly bitter, so they go into boiling water and then sit for several hours in cold water changed repeatedly. Throw away both the blanching water and the leaching water. Some water-soluble compounds leave with it. Cut the leaching short and the aftertaste stays.
Saponins and iridoids of the genus Patrinia Analyses report triterpene saponins and iridoid glycosides isolated from Patrinia species, with the highest levels in the root. This entry stays with the compositional record.
The smell of the root A dug root smells of aged bean paste. That is the smell the Donguibogam gives as the origin of the name. Only the young shoot is used as a green; the root never reaches the table because of it.
Where it sits among spring greens The young shoots are high in water and carry dietary fibre and beta-carotene. It is not a farmed crop with a settled composition table, so there is little data to quote as figures. Treat it as a single dish of dressed greens.
Pairings
○ Doenjang and perilla seed powder — Dressed with doenjang and ground perilla seed, the bitterness that survived the leaching softens. A spoon of perilla oil keeps the shoots from clumping together. Perilla (Deulkkae)
○ Soy sauce and sesame oil — A light dressing of soy sauce and sesame oil leaves the texture of the shoot in front. Season it hard and the leached flavour is buried again.
○ Mixed with milder spring greens — On its own the bitterness tires quickly. Mixed with gentler greens such as chwinamul or chamnamul, the plate empties evenly.
△ Never eaten raw — blanch and leach — Patrinia shoots are not eaten raw. Unblanched, the bitterness rasps the throat. Blanch two to three minutes in boiling salted water, then leach for several hours in cold water changed repeatedly. Throw away both waters.
△ A root decoction during pregnancy — An old medical text has a passage on this root in connection with childbirth. Do not drink a decoction of the root during pregnancy. Eating a plate of dressed young shoots and drinking a decoction of the root are two entirely different things.
△ Digging on leaves alone — The spring shoot spreads flat on the ground and is easy to confuse with other plants. Dig only where last year's dried flower stalk is still standing, which confirms the species. If you are not certain, do not dig. Avoid roadsides, field banks and paddy edges, where herbicide may have been sprayed.
Varieties
- Golden lace patrinia (seed) — The base species, yellow-flowered. Its young shoots are the ones eaten
- Ttukgal (Patrinia villosa) (seed) — A white-flowered species in the same genus, with dense white hairs on leaf and stem
- Dolmatari (Patrinia rupestris) (seed) — A small species of sunny rocky ground. Stays low
- Geummatari (Patrinia saniculifolia) (division) — A Korean endemic of high mountains, with palmately lobed leaves. Not to be dug from the wild
Source: Donguibogam, Herb Section 敗醬 · Korea National Arboretum, Korean Plant Names Index