It grows up to 4 feet (1.2 metres) tall, and blooms with small, tan-coloured flowers from July through to November.
It’s lightly parboiled first for 1 to 2 minutes before use to remove some of the harshness from its taste. Sometimes a touch of baking soda is added to the water.
Yomogi is used in rice cakes such as kusamochi and hishimochi, and for tempura.
Substitutes
For 30g fresh yomogi leaves substitute 10g dried leaves
History Notes
Native to Japan.
Language Notes
In Korean, Yomogi is called “ssuk” or “tarae ssuk.”
Sources
“Artemisia princeps”. Plants For A Future Database. Retrieved January 2010 from http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Artemisia+princeps
Takahashi, Masumi, Natsuko Hosokawa, and Keiko Mori. “Yomogi (Mugwort)”. In: Japan Through Young Eyes series, created by Kanda University of International Studies and Bunkyo Women’s College. http://www.shejapan.com/jtyeholder/jtye/living/wagashi/wagashi3.html . Retrieved January 2010.