Purslane
By: Anonymous

About

A mild, chewy vegetable with a slightly sweet and sour citrus flavor. Purslane is great in salads, especially in contrast to sweet vegetables like carrots or beets. Greek cooks serve purslane in salads, either alone or with other wild greens. In Mexico, cooked purslane is eaten with with eggs and pork. In China, it is paired with noodles.

Information
Other names: Pigweed, Little Hogweed or Pusley, Verdolaga
Translations: Portulaks, Portulaka, Prkos, Một loại rau, Portulaka, Postelein, कुलफा का शाक, Beldroega, Портулак, Ανδρακλή, الرجلة نبات عشبي, 쇠비름, Krokot, Persleyn, 马齿苋, Verdolaga, Tolščak, Porcellana, PORTLAK, Пркос, スベリヒユ, Portulak, Portulak, Verdolaga, Портулак, Тученица


Physical Description
Purslane is a succulent with paddle shaped leaves and a reddinsh stem.

Colors: light to medium green 


Tasting Notes
Flavors: peppery, sweet, sour
Mouthfeel: Crunchy, Juicy, Tart, Peppery
Food complements: Soups, Salads
Wine complements: White wine, Sauvignon blanc
Beverage complements: Tea, Green tea
Substitutes: Spinach, Watercress


Selecting and Buying
Choosing: Look for vibrant stems that aren't wilted or dried out. 
Buying: Available occasional at supermarkets but more often at farmers markets. 
Procuring: In the US purslane is considered a weed, but is gaining popularity for edible landscaping gardens.


Preparation and Use
Simply clean and eat. It can be lightly sauteed or tossed into a salad.

Cleaning: Before eating, cut off roots. Soak leaves and stems in cold water to remove any dirt, then dry. Cut off and discard heavy stems


Conserving and Storing
Refrigerate purslane in an open plastic bag with a paper towel at the bottom. It will keep for about a week.


Social/Political

History: Purslane comes from India, where it was a food crop centuries ago. It was Gandhi's favorite food. Now it also grows across America, and around the world. It has a wonderful survival tactic: The succulent (juicy) stem, keeps it from drying out. If someone decides purslane is a "weed" and uproots it, it uses the water in the stem to make seeds before it dies.

Comments:
Hfriday

in Arabic it's actually called "bakleh" as opposed to above translation. It is one of the essential greens for a popular Middle Eastern salad called Fattoush. There are variations of recipes for the dressing but primarily it's a little sour whether because of apple vinegar or lemon and it works perfectly well with purslane's slightly sweet taste. google for fattoush recipe and enjoy!
Barnaby Dorfman

Interesting, if you click on "All Translations" above, and then "edit" on the following page, you can correct the translation. We get our translations from Google. We have a Fattoush recipe on the site as well, what do you think of it?
Barnaby Dorfman

Interesting, if you click on "All Translations" above, and then "edit" on the following page, you can correct the translation. We get our translations from Google. We have a Fattoush recipe on the site as well, what do you think of it?
Hfriday

in Arabic it's actually called "bakleh" as opposed to above translation. It is one of the essential greens for a popular Middle Eastern salad called Fattoush. There are variations of recipes for the dressing but primarily it's a little sour whether because of apple vinegar or lemon and it works perfectly well with purslane's slightly sweet taste. google for fattoush recipe and enjoy!