Sesame Soy Dressed Young Mugwort Greens

Mugwort—just the name drives gardeners into a fearful frenzy because of how insanely invasive it is. From just a small root grows a dense, waist high perennial that covers the ground in a span of a season. It’s difficult to get rid of once established, and can be the stuff of nightmares. Young though, it’s also an absolutely delicious spring green. A little later in the year, the medicinal flavor strengthens and becomes somewhat overwhelming and the greens turn bitter. I cultivate a small patch of it and remove the rest, because perennial greens can be hard to come by. It is sometimes confused with ragweed (which is also edible) due to the deeply lobed leaves, but the silvery underside is unmistakable.

Historically speaking, it’s a medicinal and culturally significant herb—part of the artemisia family. In Asia, it’s used as both vegetable (ssuk in Korean and yomogi in Japanese) and medicine (Ai Cao in Chinese), and in the west as a deworming/antiparasitic agent (hence its other name—wormwood.) Nobel peace prize winner Tu-you-you extracted artemisinin from its close cousin (artemisia annua) which went on to become an important antimalarial medication used around the world. Mugwort itself also contains artemisinin.

As I weed the garden in spring, before it becomes an unmanageable mess, I collect the young mugwort greens to make a simple dish. Delicately flavored but not slimy, it’s excellent as a blanched green (about two minutes and then rinsed under cold water with the liquid squeezed out), simply dressed in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic (optional) , and sesame seeds. A pinch of sugar to taste and you got yourself a delicious side dish recipe of a once despised weed.