Mizuna & Onion Salad

A mix of mizuna leaves (Japanese water greens) and sliced onions is a go-to salad in the Setouchi region. Delightfully crunchy and refreshingly delicious, the mildly peppery mizuna and pungent onions serve as fresh vegetable spices for the other foods it’s served alongside, with eaters combining bits of salad with pieces of things like seafood sashimi, grilled chicken and beef, and fried tofu. It’s also a very healthy salad. Mizuna is loaded with minerals and the vitamins A, C, and K and the onions contain enzymes that aid digestion.

Mizuna is a spring green, and the salad is typically made with “new” onions, which are sweet, mild-tasting yellow onions harvested early, from March through May. However, the salad can be made year-round as mizuna, being a staple of the Japanese pantry, is available throughout the year. The new onions can be replaced by any type of sweet onion or even a regular yellow onion, but first soak its slices in cold water for at least 5 minutes to reduce their pungency.

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Mizuna & Onion Salad
Mizuna to Tamanegi no Sarada : 水菜と玉ねぎのサラダ

Serves 3-4

Main Foods

• Mizuna, 1 bunch

• “New” Onion, Any Variety of Sweet Onion, or Yellow Onion, 1/4

Directions

• Cut off the stem end of the mizuna, separate and wash the leaves, and cut them into 2” (5 cm) lengths. Peel and slice the onion thinly and toss with the mizuna. (If using a yellow onion, first soak the slices in cold water for at least 5 minutes to reduce their pungency. Drain and pat dry.)

Serve

The salad can be served as a side dish or used as a bed for sashimi, grilled, roasted, and fried seafoods and meats. There’s no need to dress the salad, but if you do, use our Shio Ponzu Sauce, Bitter Orange Ponzu Sauce, or a vinaigrette.

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