Chinese spinach (amaranth).

Chinese spinach is the leafy amaranth sold in Thai markets as phak khom. The leaves are oval and soft, plain green on some plants and marked with deep red at the centre on others. It tastes mild and a little earthy, and the stems stay tender when the plant is young. It cooks very fast. A big bunch wilts to a small heap in a minute or two, and the red kind tints the cooking liquid pink.

Ways to use it

• Stir fry it with plenty of garlic and a little oyster sauce over high heat.
• Add it to a clear soup with minced pork or tofu in the last minute of cooking.
• Blanch it, squeeze out the water, chop it and bake it with cheese and cream, a dish many Thai cafes serve under the name phak khom op chis.
• Stir it into rice porridge just before serving.

Storing it

Treat it like other leafy greens. Keep it unwashed in a container lined with paper towels in the fridge drawer, and cook it within 1 to 2 days. Pick off any yellow leaves, then wash the rest under running water, rubbing gently, since soil can hide where the leaves meet the stem.

Where it comes from

Grown to certified organic standards. The certificate for each lot is shown when you trace your pack.

Every pack will carry a lot code. Enter it on the Trace your pack page and you will see the farms in that lot, the harvest date and the certificate.