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kooks abc of Ingredients - 🌿 Chinese Arrowhead - A crisp, starchy gem of Asian winter cuisine.
Crisp, creamy, and full of New Year luck 🥢🎊
C - The abc of Food Cooking and People
Chinese arrowhead
🌿 Chinese Arrowhead - A crisp, starchy gem of Asian winter cuisine.
Chinese arrowhead — also known simply as arrowhead, 慈菇 (cí gū), or Sagittaria sagittifolia — is an edible aquatic tuber treasured throughout China and East Asia. With its smooth white flesh and nutty, potato-like flavour, arrowhead is a winter staple, especially during the Lunar New Year season.
It is not related to Jerusalem artichokes, globe artichokes, or water chestnuts — though it often gets mistaken for all three.
🌱 A Water-Grown Treasure
Chinese arrowhead grows partially submerged in ponds and shallow wetlands, where its arrow-shaped leaves rise above water and its tubers develop below the surface.
Its growing cycle aligns beautifully with winter, making it an important seasonal crop in:
China
Taiwan
Japan (where it’s called kuwai)
Parts of Southeast Asia
The tubers are round to oval, about the size of a small plum, with a brownish skin and bright white flesh.
🍽️ Taste & Texture
The flavour of Chinese arrowhead sits somewhere between:
new potatoes
water chestnuts
taro
with a slightly nutty finish and a crisp-tender bite.
When cooked, the flesh becomes creamy but never mushy — perfect for stir-fries, soups, and festive dishes.
🎎 A Lunar New Year Symbol
Chinese arrowhead is strongly associated with good fortune and success.
Because the plant vigorously pushes new shoots upward, it symbolises progress, advancement, and rising in status — a highly auspicious message for the New Year.
During the festival season, you’ll often see arrowhead:
fried into golden, crisp slices
cooked with minced pork
added to vegetarian New Year’s feasts
combined with sticky rice or lotus root
In Japan, kuwai is traditionally included in osechi ryori (New Year’s cuisine), symbolising hope for achieving future goals.
🔪 In the Kitchen
Chinese arrowhead can be prepared in many ways:
• Stir-fried — sliced thin and fried until lightly golden
• Braised — absorbing flavours of soy, stock, ginger, and mushrooms
• Crisps — sliced and deep-fried like potato chips
• Steamed or boiled — as a simple, earthy side
• Festive dishes — with dried shrimp, Chinese sausage, or greens
It holds its shape beautifully, making it a favourite for cooks who value both taste and texture.
To prepare:
Peel the thin outer skin
Rinse away slight starchiness
Cook as you would a firm vegetable
🌍 Also Known As
Chinese arrowhead
Arrowhead tuber
Cí gū (慈菇) — China
Kuwai — Japan
Sagittaria sagittifolia (botanical)
Not to be confused with arrowroot, which is an unrelated starch.
✨ The Secret Worth Sharing
Chinese arrowhead is a humble but meaningful ingredient — a symbol of progress, a winter delicacy, and a celebration of Asian culinary tradition. Crisp, creamy, and subtly sweet, it brings both texture and symbolism to the New Year table, reminding us that some foods nourish the spirit as much as the body.
#WorldIngredients #ChineseArrowhead #Cigu #Kuwai
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kooks abc of Ingredients - 🌿 Chinese Arrowhead - A crisp, starchy gem of Asian winter cuisine.
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