Japanese Shungiku Chrysanthemum Greens in Hot Pot and Tempura

Japan — chrysanthemum cultivation introduced from China; shungiku as a food plant established during Edo period; now grown widely as a cool-season vegetable

Shungiku (春菊 — Glebionis coronaria, formerly Chrysanthemum coronarium) is the edible chrysanthemum green, widely used across East and Southeast Asia but with a particularly strong cultural identity in Japanese cuisine. Its distinctive flavour is herbaceous, slightly bitter, and aromatic — a warm, resinous, marigold-adjacent note that reads as both familiar (from chrysanthemum flower) and unusual in food. It is most commonly encountered as a nabe ingredient (shabu-shabu, sukiyaki, yosenabe), where brief cooking wilts the leaves while retaining their character, and as a tempura vegetable, where the batter cocoons the herb and intensifies its aromatic compounds through heat. In tempura, shungiku leaves are a classic autumn-winter item — the bitter, aromatic quality contrasts beautifully with the clean oil of the batter. Raw shungiku is used in goma ae (sesame dressing) and as a garnish. The younger, smaller leaves are more tender and less bitter; larger mature leaves are more appropriate for cooking applications where their robustness can stand up to heat.

Warm, resinous, aromatic, gently bitter; floral-herbal with chrysanthemum note; in nabe, a distinctive aromatic presence; in tempura, an elevated herb experience