Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) was historically used as food, most notably as the foundation of the Eastern European soup known today as borscht. Borscht also happens to be the common name of this plant in Slavic languages, although hogweed is not used in the modern-day version of the soup.
A variety of hogweed known as Persian hogweed (Heracleum persicum) is used as a spice in Persian cuisine. The common name of hogweed in English comes from its application as forage for hogs.
When picking hogweed care should be taken to not confuse it with its bigger counterpart giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). Giant hogweed contains high concentrations of a substance in its juice that can cause severe burns. The difference can be seen in smaller leaves on common hogweed and the absence of the little red spots seen on giant hogweed. Although common hogweed will not cause burns some irritation can be caused in sensitive individuals so using gloves when picking the plant is recommended.
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In this recipe, we use the young hogweed shoots which are a true delicacy. Some high-end restaurants, who work together with foragers, use these shoots in their dishes. It has a quite pronounced taste reminding of cardamom.
Hogweed shoots in English breading
Equipment
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Frying pan
Ingredients
- 8 hogweed shoots
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour can be substituted by mushroom flour
- 1 cup panko
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
Instructions
- Crack an egg in a bowl and mix well.
- Add the panko with the spices in the second bowl and mix well.
- Cover the leave parts of the hogweed shoots with flour.
- Dredge the covered parts of the shoots in the egg mixture.
- Coat the covered parts with the panko mixture.
- Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the hogweed shoots in two batches on both sides until golden brown.
- Serve with sambal or your favorite hot sauce.
