Water Dropwort (Minari)

Health Benefits

How it has long been eaten. Minari has been eaten for centuries as a spring namul, a soup green, and a filling for savoury pancakes. That is a record of its place at the table, which is a separate matter from evidence about what it does in the body.

What is established — composition. Flavonoids such as quercetin and persicarin, along with phenolic acids such as caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid, have been identified in water dropwort. Human studies are scarce, so composition is as far as the record currently goes.

Studies on extracts. These were studies on an extract, which is a different condition from eating the plant as food. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial using water dropwort extract has been reported in connection with symptoms after drinking, but its result cannot be carried over to minari eaten as a namul or in soup.

Cultivation and residue surveys. Surveys analysing insecticide residues in market-sold water dropwort have been reported. That is safety data rather than a benefit, and the basic habit of rinsing the stems several times under running water still applies. Rinsing does not catch everything, though: infection with the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica has been reported from eating water-grown greens raw, so minari gathered in the wild is safer cooked.

Nutrition

• Quercetin and flavonoids (Present) — A flavonoid-class pigment compound
• Vitamins A and C, potassium (Abundant) — Vitamins and minerals common in green leaves
• Dietary fiber (Abundant) — The compound behind the crisp stems

Beta-carotene & vitamins A, C and K As befits a deep-green leaf vegetable, water dropwort contains beta-carotene and vitamins A, C and K. Rather than one nutrient standing out, a range of micronutrients is present in modest balance.

Potassium, calcium & iron Potassium, calcium and iron are all present, with potassium the most abundant of the three. An old saying holds that the plant is good for swelling, but nothing has been established to show that eating it reduces swelling.

Flavonoids Flavonoids such as persicarin and isorhamnetin have been identified in water dropwort. They come up often in research on the plant, but what has been shown in people does not yet go beyond composition.

Phenolic acids such as caffeic acid & chlorogenic acid Phenolic acids including caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid are present. They belong to a class that shows antioxidant activity under laboratory conditions, which is not the same as saying the same thing happens in the body after eating.

Essential oils The distinctive scent comes from essential oils common to the carrot family. Those oils are volatile and cook off during long simmering, so the stems are better added at the end of a soup.

Pairings

○ Pufferfish soup — A handful of minari in bok-guk is a long-standing way of cooking the dish. The green adds aroma and a crisp bite to the broth and nothing more; it does not act on the pufferfish toxin. A Korean saying holds that pufferfish should not be eaten without minari, but it is not to be read as saying the green removes the poison. Eat pufferfish only when a licensed cook has prepared it.

○ Beef and pork — Minari namul and minari shabu-shabu are the standard ways of putting the green and meat on the same table. Its aroma covers the smell of the meat, so a fatty dish does not sit as heavily.

○ Clams and seafood — A handful of minari in a spicy fish stew or a seafood noodle soup makes the fishy note less noticeable — a pungent vegetable used the way a herb would be. The essential oils are volatile and cook off during long simmering, so add it at the end.

○ Soybean sprouts, the morning after — Minari and soybean sprout soup has settled in as the pot people cook the day after drinking. That is a long-standing habit at the table; nothing has been established to show that eating minari clears a hangover.

○ Korean chives and jjokpa — Minari belongs to the carrot family, chives and jjokpa to the onion genus, and putting them together layers one aroma over another. It is a common combination in spring namul and savoury pancakes. Korean Chive (Buchu / Garlic Chive) · Jjokpa (Korean Bunching Onion)

△ Mistaken for water hemlock — do not dig it in the wild — Water hemlock (Cicuta virosa) shares both habitat and appearance with minari. Its rootstock is thick and, cut lengthwise, shows chambered hollows, and the cut surface yields a yellow sap; minari has neither a rootstock that thick nor chambers inside it. Leaves and stems alone are not enough to tell them apart, so use minari sold as a vegetable rather than digging it in the wild. When in doubt, do not eat it.

△ Anyone on a restricted potassium intake — Minari is a leaf-and-stem vegetable on the high side for potassium. If reduced kidney function means potassium intake is being limited, stay within the range set by the treating clinician and raise it with them before eating a large portion as namul or in soup.

△ While taking warfarin — Minari contains vitamin K. The usual advice for anyone on warfarin is to avoid sharp swings up or down in the amount of vitamin K-containing vegetables eaten. Talk to the treating clinician before making a large change to the diet.

△ Home-gathered minari, eaten raw — Minari grows in water, so soil and debris cling readily to the leaves and stems. Rinse even shop-bought stems several times under running water, and cook anything gathered from a paddy or ditch — blanch it or put it in a soup rather than eating it raw. Infection with the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica has been reported, in Korea and elsewhere, from eating water-grown greens raw. It is uncommon, but the encysted larvae that stick to leaves and stems cannot be counted on to rinse away, so anything gathered in the wild is safer cooked.

Varieties

• Non-minari (paddy-grown) (Seedling transplanting) — Grown in flooded beds; long, pale, tender stems for blanching or dropping into soup.
• Dol-minari (field-grown) (Seedling transplanting) — Grown on damp ground without flooding; shorter, thinner stems with a much stronger scent.
• Hanjae minari (Cheongdo) (Seedling transplanting) — A field-grown strain with plump, crisp stems, eaten raw as a side dish in early spring.