Mustard

[arnorrian]

Japanese Red Giant Mustard

[Labradors]

It looks great (and no flea beetle damage!). How does it taste and do you know if it grows better or worse than green mustard varieties?

Linda

[arnorrian]

Sadly I haven't grown it so far, but I would like to. The available varieties of leafy greens are few here. They say it has a garlicky-mustardy taste. It would probably be great stir fried with some oyster sauce or doubanjiang.

[Labradors]

It sounds delish!

Linda

[Shule]

Do you know which mustard species it is?

[Shule]

Ah. Google says it's Brassica juncea var. integrifolia. That's a form of brown mustard (meaning the species; not the breed or the color, per se), although Google says it's black mustard (but black mustard is Brassica nigra). Baker Creek confirms that Japanese Red Giant Mustard is Brassica juncea (Brown Mustard).

[agee]

The red mustard I grew was very spicy.

[pepperhead212]

I grew that one time, and it grew well, but bolted very early - one of the earliest of all of my greens to bolt in the spring. I tried it again in the fall that season, but it didn't grow that well. Very strong mustard flavor; most of the greens I grow are much milder.

[Nan6b]

My large red-colored mustard greens are very spicy. The plants have re-seeded themselves for decades.

[arnorrian]

I eat horseradish by the spoonful, and never understood why people say mustard is spicy. I must try this next year.

[Shule]

I'm just laughing because I'm trying to envision what it would be like eating horseradish by the spoonful.

[Shule]

I'm actually interested in mustard that is spicy. Never tasted it fresh from the plant. I got some mizuna some years ago, and I read a rumor that it was mustard, but it wasn't spicy at all, and the plants were no bigger than arugula. Come to find out, it's not the sort of mustard I was looking for, but it is known as spider mustard sometimes.

[Shule]

I'd love to grow Chinese Giant Leaf Mustard (it's not supposed to be as spicy, but the leaves are huge! It's a brown mustard, too.) What does this stuff taste like? I've had mustard greens of an unknown kind of mustard canned, but I never had had it fresh, unless you count spider mustard.

[arnorrian]

I'm just laughing because I'm trying to envision what it would be like eating horseradish by the spoonful.

A bit of hyperbole, but I do eat a lot of it. I put a tea spoon of it in my soup, and it's traditionally eaten with whole-roasted pork and Rindfleisch.

[bower]

I want to grow mustard for the seeds and make condiments! Those brown mustards are a great rotation for garlic or onions as well, I'm told.

[arnorrian]

Zha cai is also a brown mustard, I love it pickled.

[pepperhead212]

I tried growing that zha cai years ago. I wanted to try to make my own Szechwan preserved vegetable, but it didn't grow well, even though other brassicas grow fine here. The ones I grow are B. Rapa varieties, even though they are named mustards. The senposai - a komatsuna x cabbage hybrid - is the largest, as well as the most resistant to bolting, growing well into August a few times. Here is some of the komatsuna, with mizuna to the left. Almost all of these greens are still growing today (only some bok choy started to flower), with this mild winter I've had!
End view of raised bed, 12-15. Looking great! Got those greens for the tacos tonight, and a few scallions. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[worth1]

My Mom really did grow and eat horseradish like that.
The stores used to have hot curly leaf mustard here but I haven't seen it in years.
Most of the canned greens are, 'at least to me, disgusting with some sort of nasty salty (Southern Style) smoked ham flavor in them.

[pepperhead212]

I want to grow mustard for the seeds and make condiments! Those brown mustards are a great rotation for garlic or onions as well, I'm told.

On the subject of seeds, has anybody ever ground black and brown mustard seeds, and made some simple mustard with them, to compare them? I have gotten both of them from Indian markets, but the whole seeds didn't seem any different when used in dishes, or ground in masalas, even though the blacks are supposedly stronger.