Tonkin jasmine (telosma)

Telosma cordata, T. procumbens

flower · vegetable

Clusters of small greenish-yellow, sweet-scented flowers, stir-fried with garlic and beef or added to crab soup in Vietnam.

Origin

Southeast Asia and southern China

Season (United States)

May to September

Preparation

The clusters are rinsed and cooked for just one or two minutes, so they stay crisp; flowers and buds are eaten whole.

Did you know?

In Vietnam, it is trained over courtyard arbors: it gives shade and dinner.