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Vegetables

Water spinach

Ipomoea aquaticaAlso called River spinach, Water morning glory, Water convolvulus and Chinese spinach

Water spinach is a vegetable with edible leaves and shoots. Cooks use it raw or boil, simmer, sauté, stew, or stir-fry it. It pairs with chili pepper, garlic, ginger, shrimp paste, and fermented tofu.

  • Plant-based
  • Gluten-free
  • No listed allergens

About the plain ingredient, not packaged products; general information, not medical advice. Details

Category
Vegetables
Part used
Leaf, shoot
Family
Convolvulaceae
Cooked most in
Asia
Top country
Indonesia
Water spinach, whole

Photo: Fumikas Sagisavas · CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use water spinach

Typical ways to cook or use it

  • Boil simmer
  • Raw
  • Saute
  • Stew
  • Stir fry

Preparing it

Cut the tender shoots into sections before cooking them with the leaves.

Goes well with

Nutrition

What 100 g of water spinach holds

Per 100 g, raw. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 44%Fat 3%Carbohydrate 53%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of water spinach, raw
Energy19 kcal · 80 kJ
Protein2.6 g
Fat0.2 g
Carbohydrate3.1 g
Fibre2.1 g
Sodium113 mg
Cholesterol0 mg
Nutrition per 100 g of water spinach, raw: minerals and vitamins
Potassium312 mg
Calcium77 mg
Iron1.7 mg
Magnesium71 mg
Zinc0.18 mg
Vitamin C55 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)315 µg
Folate57 µg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (food 169301), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where water spinach is cooked

9 dishes in the catalogue use water spinach. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Countries whose dishes use it most

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list water spinach among their ingredients.

Origins

First cultivated
in South-eastern Asia

On the table

Dishes made with water spinach

8 of the 9 catalogued dishes that use it, spread across the countries they come from.

  • Kuwah Pliëk U

    Indonesia

  • Gado-gado

    Indonesia

  • Lotek

    Indonesia

  • Rujak cingur

    Indonesia

  • Urap

    Indonesia

  • Tinutuan porridge

    Indonesia

  • Sinonggi

    Indonesia

  • Kuluban

    Indonesia

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include water spinach.

Good to know

Diet and allergens: water spinach in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.
Allergens
None of the 15 listed allergens foundChecked and not found: soy, eggs, fish, milk, lupin, wheat, celery, sesame, mustard, peanuts, molluscs, sulphites, tree nuts, crustaceans, gluten cereals.
Animal origin
No animal ingredients foundChecked and not found: egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey, insect, gelatin, poultry, bone char, shellfish, other animal, animal fining, animal rennet.
Gluten
None
Alcohol
None
Caffeine
None
Pork
None

Cooked together

Ingredients that go into the same catalogued dishes.
Photo credits for this page (12)

Around the world

What water spinach is called

Names in 92 languages, from Wikidata.

  • Spanish

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • French

    Ipomoea aquatica · Kancon · Liseron d'eau · Ipomea aquatica

  • Italian

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Portuguese

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • German

    Wasserspinat · Ipomoea aquatica

  • Dutch

    Waterspinazie · Kangkong · Ipomoea aquatica · Kankong

  • Turkish

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Russian

    Ипомея водяная · батат водяной · водяной шпинат · батат ползучий

  • Polish

    Wilec wodny · Ipomoea aquatica · Szpinak wodny

  • Arabic

    إيبومويا أكواتيكا

  • Persian

    اسفناج آبی

  • Hebrew

    תרד מים

Show all 92 languages

  • Achinese

    Rumpuën · Ipomoea aquatica

  • Albanian

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • ami

    Incay

  • Aragonese

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Assamese

    কলমৌ

  • Asturian

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Azerbaijani

    Su ipomeyası

  • Balinese

    Kangkung

  • Bambara

    Nwananbabulu

  • Bangla

    কলমি শাক

  • Banjar

    kangkung cabut

  • Basque

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Bhojpuri

    करमी क साग

  • Bikol

    Kangkong

  • blk

    ကံစွဉ်ꩻ

  • Brazilian Portuguese

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Bulgarian

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Burmese

    ကန်စွန်း

  • Cantonese

    通菜 · Ipomoea aquatica · 抽筋菜 · I. aquatica

  • Catalan

    Kang kung · Ipomoea aquatica

  • cdo

    Óng-chái

  • Cebuano

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Chinese

    蕹菜 · 瓮菜 · 空心菜 · 蓊菜

  • Czech

    povijnice vodní · Ipomoea aquatica · Ipomoea reptans · Kangkong

  • dag

    Kulima

  • dga

    Hayoyo

  • Divehi

    ކަންކުން

  • Egyptian Arabic

    ايبومويا اكواتيكا

  • Esperanto

    Akva spinaco

  • Extremaduran

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Fiji Hindi

    Karamua

  • Filipino

    Kangkong

  • Finnish

    pinaattielämänlanka · Ipomoea aquatica

  • Galician

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Gan Chinese

    茣菜 · 空心菜

  • Gan Chinese (Simplified)

    茣菜 · 空心菜

  • Gan Chinese (Traditional)

    茣菜 · 空心菜

  • Gorontalo

    Kanto

  • Hakka Chinese

    Vung-chhoi

  • Hausa

    Alayyahun ruwa

  • Hindi

    कलमी शाक · करमी साग

  • Iban

    Kangkung

  • Ido

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Iloko

    Balangeg · Ipomoea aquatica

  • Indonesian

    kangkung · daun kangkung

  • Interlingua

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Interlingue

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Irish

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Japanese

    ヨウサイ · 抽筋菜 · アサガオ菜 · チャウカンチョイ

  • Javanese

    Kangkung

  • Kashubian

    Wòdny lëbòszczk

  • kge

    Kangkung

  • Khmer

    ត្រកួន

  • Korean

    공심채 · 차오콩신차이

  • Latin

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Latvian

    ūdens ipomeja · ūdens spināti

  • Literary Chinese

    蕹菜

  • Madurese

    Kangkong

  • Malay

    Kangkung · Pokok Kangkung

  • Malayalam

    വയൽച്ചീര

  • Min Nan Chinese

    Èng-chhài · Ipomoea aquatica

  • Nias

    Salidi

  • Norwegian Bokmål

    vannspinat · Ipomoea aquatica

  • Norwegian Nynorsk

    vass-spinat · Ipomoea aquatica

  • Occitan

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Odia

    କଳମଶାଗ

  • Pampanga

    Kangkung

  • pwn

    ljabecubecuq

  • Romanian

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Santali

    ᱠᱷᱚᱲᱚᱝ ᱟᱲᱟᱜ · ᱠᱷᱚᱲᱚᱝ

  • Shan

    ၽၵ်းၵမ်ႇၸွၼ်း · ၽၵ်းပုင်ႈ

  • Simplified Chinese

    蕹菜 · 空心菜

  • Simplified Chinese (China)

    蕹菜 · 空心菜

  • Simplified Chinese (Singapore)

    蕹菜 · 空心菜

  • Sundanese

    Kangkung

  • Swedish

    Sallatsipomea · Ipomoea aquatica · vattensallad · morning glory

  • Tamil

    வள்ளல்

  • Thai

    ผักบุ้ง

  • Tibetan

    སྦུག་ཚལ།

  • Traditional Chinese

    空心菜 · 蕹菜

  • Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong SAR China)

    蕹菜

  • Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)

    空心菜 · 草菜 · 蕹菜

  • Ukrainian

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Venetian

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Vietnamese

    Rau muống · Ipomoea aquatica · Muống

  • Volapük

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Waray

    Ipomoea aquatica

  • Wu Chinese

    蕹菜

  • Zhuang

    byaekmbungj

Sources and credits

Data

Wikidata item: Q272754

Photos

Photo: Fumikas Sagisavas · CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia Commons