THE CHINESE WATER GARDEN - Growing Chinese Vegetables in Your Own Backyard - page 179

ters grow on long stems that stand out among the dark-green foliage; tubers are gray or
yellowish gray.
How to Grow
Getting started. Arrowhead is a rampant grower. You have to repot it every year or it
will become potbound after the first season. If you use a great many of the tubers in the
kitchen, make a point of setting some aside for next year's crop.
Planting. Since arrowhead is a bog plant, set it no more than 3 to 6 inches below the
surface of the water. Plant sparsely, to allow room for the growth of the roots, one plant
to a 7-inch-diameter, 5-inch-deep pot; six plants to a 19-inch-diameter, 9-inch-deep pot.
How to Harvest
You can harvest arrowhead all season long, without any need to store it.
Winter Storage
If your water garden is large enough that the water doesn't freeze solid and the mud
doesn't freeze, you can successfully overwinter arrowhead. The Asian species is some-
what less hardy than the American (hardy to Zone 5).
Varieties
The American arrowheads Sagittaria latifolia and S. cuneata closely resemble the Asi-
an species. Their tubers, also called wapato and duck potato, can be used interchange-
ably with the Asian species. Lewis and Clark describe arrowhead as “a principal article
of traffic” among the Native Americans they encountered. The women waded into the
water to free the tubers from the pond bottom and the men waited in canoes to gather
the tubers that floated to the surface.
CULINARY USES
Only the roots (tubers) of the arrowhead plant are eaten. They are bitter when raw but
develop a wonderful flavor when cooked. The flesh is cream-colored and similar in
flavor to a very delicate, slightly nutty sweet potato. The American arrowhead is some-
what nuttier in flavor than the Asian species but not so much so that it will affect the
authenticity of your Chinese dishes. Arrowhead tubers can be roasted like a potato or
boiled.