Unfamiliarity never deters us when shopping at ethnic markets ... which means we left our local Southeast Asian grocery with a bag full of "Malongai" and lots of questions. We have never used this green before and are hoping to find some cooking suggestions among our readers.
Ingredient Spotlight: Moringa Leaves
We did some research and discovered that these are leaves from the Moringa oleifera tree; Malongai or Malunggay is the Tagalog name. In addition to the Philippines, this native Himalayan plant is also cultivated in Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Central and South America, and Africa. It's fast-growing, drought-tolerant, and touted as a "miracle tree" due to its high nutritional value and multiple other uses, including everything from water purification to biodiesel.
But how does it taste? We tried the small, dark green leaves raw and they were lemony and peppery. Apparently it can be cooked like spinach or dried and used as an herb or tea. Nutritionally, it is high in calcium, potassium, iron, and Vitamins A and C. Various other parts of the Moringa plant are also edible; Kathryn encountered the seed pods, or Drumstick Malunggay, at a farmers' market last year.
We found some interesting recipes for Moringa leaves and would love more advice from anyone familiar with this green!
• Corn with Malunggay Leaves, from Earth News
• Munaga Aaku Charu (Drumstick Leaves Soup), from Sailu's Food-Indian Food
• Ginataang Malunggay, from Filipino Vegetarian Recipe
• Moringa Leaf Sauce and Fresh Moringa Leaf, Beans and Meat, from Moringa Farms
• Spiced Drumstick Leaves, from Asia Society
Related: Ingredient Spotlight: Drumstick Malunggay
(Image: Emily Ho)
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Let us know how these recipes turn out, anything with that sort of nutritional content deserves a shot in my book!
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
This looks an awful like purslane. If it is, I picked some up a couple of months ago and struggled with how to cook with it. After a few failed attempts, I ended up just using it in place of salad greens and even then, I don't think I'd buy it again-despite is stellar nutritional profile.
view rosebud's profile
@rosebud It's actually quite different from purslane in flavor and texture. If you ever feel like giving purslane another try, check out our posts here and here. Not everyone enjoys the texture, but I think it's great!
view Emily Ho's profile
These are drumstick leaves - the fruit of the tree is more familiar as an ingredient in Indian curries and sambars. The leaves make an excellent stir-fried curry in the thoran style, cooked lightly with chilis, and other spices, and sometimes coconut. It's extremely tasty when fresh and cooked like this.
view DCarl1's profile
@DCarl1 Thanks for the tip! That sounds delicious.
view Emily Ho's profile
As Peace Corps volunteers, we dedicated a lot of time to touting the benefits of moringa! Easy to grow (in warm climates, at least), and is high in protein in addition to having the usual nutritional benefits of leafy greens. We ate it lightly cooked in curries and broths, served over rice. It was also yummy in omelets. It really is a miracle tree!
view eeeee's profile
They are the leaves of the drumstick tree as mentioned above.
One of the easiest ways to enjoy the leaves (the tender stems can be included...not the thick stems) is to fry the leaves in clarified butter aka ghee.
Another option is to cook it along with lentils and spices as a part of a dal preparation
view Giri's profile
We had a marungai tree when I was growing up. My mother used to use the leaves in chicken soup, or tinola.
view drea_nicole's profile
My old co-worker whose family is from Ghana says Moringa leaves are nutritious, but they are so high in fiber that if
you take too much you can get sick. So it should definitely be taken in smalldoses!
I believe her family boils the leaf and creates a tea.
view jroo's profile