Chrysanthemum Greens (Tong Hao) with Mixed Nut Sauce is a warm salad that is herbaceous and delicious! Crunchy, savory, and slightly sweet nut sauce versus tender, mildly grassy, and bitter chrysanthemum greens—all the feels (in your mouth). You can make this all year round and have it both warm and cold!

A Pair of Golden Chopsticks Picking Up Some Chrysanthemum Greens with Nutty Sauce on a White Plate Against Grey Background

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Chrysanthemum Greens
Ingredients You'll Need
Recipe Tips & Tricks
STORAGE & REHEATING
Additions & Substitutions

Chrysanthemum Greens

Chrysanthemum greens can look like a big bunch of grassy weeds and unappetizing, BUT don't judge a book by its cover. They are absolutely unique, herbaceous, delicious, and nutrition-packed! Very underrated.

Thought to be native to East Asia, chrysanthemum greens have been widely used in different Asian cuisines throughout history and have many different names. They are known as Tóng Hāo (茼蒿) in Mandarin Chinese, and Tong Ho Choy (唐好菜) or simply Tong Ho in Cantonese.

Popular ways to use chrysanthemum greens are in hot pot, soups, stir-fries, or as a side dish with light seasoning.

Taste

Chrysanthemum greens are tender, with a mild grassy flavor and a bitter aftertaste. Their stems can be tender or fibrous, depending on thickness, and tend to be more grassy and less bitter in flavor than the leaves. The herbaceous flavor is similar to that of mustard greens.

How To Pick Chrysanthemum Greens

I know this sounds obvious, but choose any bunches that look healthy!

Look For	Avoid
Lush dark green leaves	Yellow/brown and/or drooping leaves
Thin stems (= less fibrous)	Thick stems (= more fibrous)
Firm stems (can be snapped easily)	Soft and/or soggy stems (hard to snap)

Ingredients You'll Need

You'll need the following ingredients to make this delicious warm Chrysanthemum greens salad:

Chrysanthemum greens
Cashews
Almonds
Walnut
Cooking oil of choice (I'm using avocado oil)

Recipe Tips & Tricks

Washing

Thoroughly check and rinse the greens (I have found a fat - and alive! - slug on one of the stems before. 🐛)
Alternatively, you can also submerge the greens in a bowl of water with Trader Joe's Fruit and Vegetable Wash while you prep for the mixed nut sauce.

Blanching

Add the following to the boiling pot of water:

Salt: Just a pinch to keep the greens' colors vibrant
Oil: Just a little bit to give the greens some shine

Since this dish will be served warm, we will not use any cold water or ice bath.

STORAGE & REHEATING

Storage: This dish stores great in the fridge and can be stored for up to 2-3 days.
Reheating: Reheating in the microwave is the fastest and easiest way to warm this dish up, and 2 minutes in the microwave should do the trick!

Additions & Substitutions

Nuts: If you prefer, you can use only almonds, only cashews, or only walnuts. Although I would recommend including some cashews, as they are naturally sweet! You can use roasted nuts, but I would still recommend toasting them a bit to bring the nuttiness aroma out.
White Sugar: I tried coconut sugar with this recipe, but found that I prefer it with white sugar. A little bit of sugar is used to enhance the other parts of the dish; however, exclude it if you are trying to avoid sugar.

Close Up of Chrysanthemum Greens Topped with Nut Sauce on a White Plate Against Grey Background

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5 from 2 votes

Chrysanthemum Greens (Tong Hao) with Mixed Nut Sauce

By Joyce Shangkuan

A warm salad that is herbaceous and delicious! Crunchy, savory, and slightly sweet nut sauce versus tender, mildly grassy, and bitter chrysanthemum greens—all the feels (in your mouth). You can make this all year round and have it both warm and cold!

Servings 2 Servings

Prep 15

Cook 20

Total 35

Full Nutrition Label Hide

Nutrition Disclosure

Equipment

1 small blender or food processor for blending nuts
1 soup pot for blanching chrysanthemum greens

Ingredients

200-300 g chrysanthemum greens chopped into 2-inch (5 cm) sections; see Note 1
4 cups water for blanching

Mixed Nut Sauce

10 raw cashews
4 raw almonds
4 raw walnuts
2 tablespoons avocado oil or cooking oil of choice
¼ teaspoon white sugar
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

For Making the Mixed Nut Sauce

In a frying pan, dry roast 10 raw cashews, 4 raw almonds, and 4 raw walnuts on low heat until you can start smelling nutty flavor, about 2 minutes.
In a small blender or food processor, blend the toasted nuts until they reach a meal consistency, i.e., finer than crumbles but more coarse than flour.
In a small mixing bowl, pour the meal, add ¼ teaspoon white sugar and ¼ teaspoon sea salt, and mix well.
In a small saucepan or a milk warmer pot, heat 2 tablespoons avocado oil or cooking oil of choice on high heat.
To test whether the oil is hot enough, stick a wooden or bamboo chopstick and see whether bubbles form aournd it. The oil is hot enough when small bubbles form quickly around the chopstick.
Pour the hot oil over the nut mixture (there will be sizzles), mix well, and you will get a paste-like consistency.

For Blanching Chrysanthemum Greens

Wash and rinse 200-300 g chrysanthemum greens thoroughly.
Cut the chrysanthemum greens into 2-inch (or 5 cm) sections, and separate the stems from the leaves as they will be blanched differently.
In a soup pot, bring 4 cups water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add a pinch of salt and pour a little bit of oil.
Add the stems to the boiling water first and blanch for 1-1.5 minutes.
Then, add the leaves and blanch for another 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Take the stems and leaves out and drain any excess water.

For Assembling the Dish

In a mixing bowl or plate, add blanched chrysanthemum greens, pour mixed nut sauce over the greens, and it is ready to be served!
Alternatively, you can mix the greens and the mixed nut sauce, and serve everything mixed.

Notes

Note 1: A handful (how much you can hold in one hand comfortably) would be about 200-300 g.

Nutrition is hand-calculated using Cronometer, and should be treated as an estimate only. Values can vary based on the ingredients, brands, and quantities you use. For the most accurate results, please calculate the nutrition using the exact ingredients you use, or consult a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian.

Cronometer.com