Konjac

Plant Description

Deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia grows a plant called konjac. Not many people have heard of it, but its medicinal properties have been known for a long time. It is a staple in traditional Chinese medicine, and in herbal preparations.

It is a perennial plant, growing from a large corm up to 25 cm (10 in) in diameter. The single leaf is up to 1.3 m (4 ft) across, bipinnate, and divided into numerous leaflets. The flowers are produced on a spathe enclosed by a dark purple spadix up to 55 cm (22 in) long.

It is the root of this plant that attracts the most interest. Although the plant is called konjac, the fiber extracted from the roots is more commonly referred to as glucomannan. Glucomannan plant forms a gel-like substance when mixed with water, causing it to thicken and increase in volume. This effect makes it great as an emulsifier (a binding agent) or a thickener (to replace gelatin in vegetarian cooking, for example).

The food made from the corm of this plant is widely known in English by its Japanese name, konnyaku (yam cake), being cooked and consumed primarily in Japan and Korea. The two basic types of cake are white and black. Noodles made from konnyaku are called shirataki. The corm of the konjac is often colloquially referred to as a yam, though it is not related to tubers of the family Dioscoreaceae.

History

Konjac or also known as konjak, kɒnjæk, kɒndʒæk, KON-yak, KON-jak is a common name of the Asian plant Amorphophallus konjac (syn. A. rivieri), which has an edible corm (bulbo-tuber). It is also known as konjaku, konnyaku potato, devil’s tongue, voodoo lily, snake palm, or elephant yam (though this name is also used for A. paeoniifolius).

It is native to Yunnan in China and cultivated in warm subtropical to tropical eastern Asia, from Japan and China south to Indonesia (USDA hardiness zone 6-11). Konjac has been known since the sixth century as a medicinal food. During the Edo period (beginning in the early 17th century), the Japanese imported konnyaku from China. The 1846 book Konnyaku Hyakusen (‘100 recipes of konnyaku’) demonstrates its popularity in Japan at that time.

Benefits

Konjac is grown in China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and southeast Asia for its large starchy corms, used to create a flour and jelly of the same name. It is also used as a vegan substitute for gelatin.

Cuisine

In Japanese cuisine, konjac (konnyaku) appears in dishes such as oden. It is typically mottled grey and firmer in consistency than most gelatins. It has very little taste; the common variety tastes vaguely like salt, usually with a slightly oceanic taste and smell (from the seaweed powder added to it, though some forms omit the seaweed). It is valued more for its texture than flavor.

Ito konnyaku is a type of Japanese food consisting of konjac cut into noodle-like strips. It is usually sold in plastic bags with accompanying water. It is often used in sukiyaki and oden. The name literally means “thread-konjac”.

Japanese konnyaku is made by mixing konjac flour with water and limewater.[6] Hijiki is often added for the characteristic dark color and flavor. Without additives for color, konjac is pale white. It is then boiled and cooled to solidify. Konjac made in noodle form is called shirataki and used in foods such as sukiyaki and gyūdon.

Konjac is consumed in parts of China’s Sichuan province; the corm is called moyu, and the jelly is called konjac tofu. It known variously in the United States as lychee cups (after a typical flavor and nata de coco cube suspended in the gel) or konjac candy, usually served in bite-sized plastic cups.

Konjac corm powder has a noticeable ‘fishy’ smell and is used as an ingredient in vegan alternative seafood products. It can be incorporated into animal-product-free versions of scallops, fish, prawns (shrimp), crab, etc. For Chinese cooking, thin strands of konjac gel can be used as substitute for shark fins when preparing an imitation version of the shark fin soup.

Health

The dried corm of the konjac plant contains around 40% glucomannan gum. This polysaccharide makes konjac jelly highly viscous and may be responsible for many of its putative health benefits as used in traditional Chinese medicine, detoxification, tumour-suppression, blood stasis alleviation and phlegm liquefaction.

The glucomannan of konjac is used as a component of weight loss supplements. It is fantastic for suppressing appetite and promoting feelings of satiety. When glucomannan ingested with water before eating, it expands in the stomach and provides a bit of padding. This means that the stomach’s fullness sensors are triggered more quickly when eating, and the overall amount of calories eaten in each meal is prone to decrease.

Fashion

Konjac can also be used for facial massage accessories, which are currently popular in Korea and gaining popularity in the West. Most commonly this is through the use of a konjac sponge, which is unique in that it can be used on sensitive skin that may become easily irritated with more common exfoliating tools (such as loofahs or washcloths).

Traditional Uses

In traditional hand papermaking in Japan, konnyaku imparts strength to paper for dyeing, rubbing, folding—and other manipulations, such as momigami

Precautions

Uncareful intake of Konjac could lead to the choking risk. Unlike gelatine and some other commonly used gelling agents, konjac fruit jelly does not melt readily in the mouth. Some products form a gel strong enough to require chewing to disintegrate the gel. Though the product is intended to be eaten by gently squeezing the container, a consumer can suck the product out with enough force to unintentionally lodge it in the trachea. Because of this hazard, the European Union and Australia banned Konjac fruit jelly. The snacks usually have warning labels advising parents to make sure their children chew the jelly thoroughly before swallowing.

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