Purslane, the herb of the five phases

Ma Chi Xian reads “horse-tooth amaranth”: the name describes the leaf, thick, fleshy and spoon-shaped. Its finest name lies elsewhere: Wu Xing Cao, “the herb of the five phases”, because its leaves are green, its stems red, its flowers yellow, its roots white and its seeds black, the five colours of the five phases. It is also called “the vegetable of long life”, as it thrives in high summer on the poorest ground. Purslane is eaten, and everything follows from this double status of food and herb; the whole plant is used, harvested from summer to autumn, then blanched and dried.

Cooling and retaining at once

In traditional Chinese medicine, purslane is cold and sour in taste. The sour taste gathers and retains, the cold removes Heat: the herb cools and retains at the same time, instead of cooling by clearing out as the bitter herbs do. Added to this is a slippery, mucilaginous character that directs it downward. It enters the Large Intestine, where it acts most directly: tradition credits it with removing Heat there and firming up what slackens, without locking in what needs to come out. This is its most famous use, and purslane, a food above all, is well tolerated in large portions and over time.

A garden vegetable rich in omega-3

Beyond the Intestines, its cold, slippery character leads Damp-Heat downward and out, through the water passages, and it enters the Liver, to which tradition entrusts the keeping of the Blood. At the table, it is one of the very few leafy plants to contain notable amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Medical books cite purslane congee, where the rice softens its coldness and spares the Middle. A minute in boiling water before cooking removes the astringent bitterness of the raw leaves and lowers their oxalate content.