Stakhis Or Chastets: Growing Conditions, Medicinal Properties, Use In Cooking

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

It's time to return the stachis plant, which was previously popular in Russia, to our gardens

This question is asked by many gardeners as soon as the sowing and planting season begins, but, in my opinion, this question is incorrect, and there can be only one answer to it - it is naturally needed!

Stakhis is one of the most ancient vegetable and at the same time medicinal plants with high taste. Its homeland is China, and from there this wonderful plant has spread throughout the planet, gaining particular popularity in Japan (there it is called the Chinese artichoke), Mongolia, France, England, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, the USA, Brazil (there his name is Japanese potatoes) and in Australia.

In Russia, stachis appeared relatively recently - only at the end of the 20th century, but even this relatively short period of time was enough for it to spread quite widely and take its rightful place in household plots. Stachis tubers were sold in almost all stores, then the culture was lost. By the way, wild forms of this plant are found here under the name Chistets and Horogi. It was brought back to us in 1975 from Mongolia.

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Stachis is a perennial and herbaceous plant with a branchy and rectangular stem reaching a height of 60 cm. In appearance, the stachis plant is somewhat reminiscent of mint. It is propagated vegetatively with the help of nodules that form on the plant. They form on stolons like potatoes.

Stachis nodules are rich in carbohydrates, amides, protein substances, contain a fairly large amount of fat, dry matter and more than 10 mg% of vitamin C. There is also such a useful element as selenium in nodules, its content is about 7 μg per kilogram of fruit.

It has long been understood in China and Tibet that stachis has truly miraculous medicinal properties and is successfully used for the prevention and even treatment of the initial forms of tuberculosis, as well as a means of lowering blood pressure and somewhat lowering sugar content in diabetes mellitus. There is reliable information that fresh consumption of stachis helps to lower cholesterol.

Many will think that such a rare and useful fruit as stachis is most likely capricious in its care, and they will be mistaken, because caring for it is not much different from caring for the potatoes we all are used to. Perhaps the only prerequisite for growing stachis is to provide it with light texture and fertile soils with a deep arable layer and a neutral reaction of the soil solution. Excessively waterlogged soils should be avoided. You should not cultivate stachis on soils with poor drainage, this can lead to decay of the nodules.

As for the application of fertilizers, both mineral and organic, they do this immediately before the autumn preparation of the soil - it is dug up to a depth of 30-40 cm, 5-7 kg of humus or compost are introduced per 1 m2, and in the spring 30-60 g of complex mineral fertilizers such as azofoska, their doses are exactly the same as those applied for potatoes. Stachis is planted in autumn - in September or in spring - in May. Autumn planting is preferable, since it is difficult to store nodules at home in winter.

Stakhis is planted with nodules, which are planted to a depth of 7-10 cm - in rows with a row spacing of 60-70 cm and with a distance between plants in a row of 30-40 cm. In this case, the nodules are placed in nests of 2-3 pieces in a nest. To get well-formed and large stachis tubers, the soil surface after planting the tubers must be covered with nutritious soil. Subject to all these simple measures, stachis can be grown in one place for 2-3 years.

Stachis must be cleaned before the onset of stable cold weather. Usually this is done at the end of September, and by the end of October the harvest is completely selected. If you rush to the deadlines, then you can greatly lose in yield, and if you are late, then harvesting due to snowfall or freezing of the soil will become quite difficult. Various dishes are prepared from stachis nodules - they are boiled in water, steamed or fried like potatoes. Stachis tubers will find their place in soups, vegetable stews, sauces, they will also be great in salting, marinades such as tomatoes or cucumbers.

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The use of stachis in cooking

Boiled stachis tastes like asparagus, cauliflower, or young corn on the cob.

It is quite simple to prepare a dish, first you should thoroughly rinse the nodules, boil them for 5-6 minutes in slightly (or to taste) salted boiling water and discard in a colander - it is better to serve with butter.

The greens of stachis leaves, which can be included in the vast majority of salads, are also used as food, the main thing is not to overdo it with the quantity, and then they will give it a delicate and unique taste.

Often nodules are used dry, for example, they can be sprinkled with sandwiches ground into flour or this powder can be added to the sauce, and the nodules are just pleasant to the taste, they are loved by both adults and children.