Konjac

Konjac
Inflorescences
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Alismatales
Family:	Araceae
Subfamily:	Aroideae
Tribe:	Thomsonieae
Genus:	Amorphophallus
Species:	A. konjac
Binomial name
Amorphophallus konjac K. Koch

Konjac (Amorphophallus konjac; syn. A. rivieri; Japanese: 蒟蒻/菎蒻; こんにゃく; konnyaku; Korean: 곤약; gonyak; Chinese: 蒟蒻; pinyin: jǔ ruò), also known as konjak, konjaku, devil's tongue, voodoo lily, snake palm, or elephant yam (though this name is also used for A. paeoniifolius), is a plant of the genus Amorphophallus. It is native to warm subtropical to tropical eastern Asia, from Japan and China south to Indonesia.

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

The corm of the konjac is often colloquially referred to as a yam, although it bears no marked relation to tubers of the family Dioscoreaceae.

Cultivation and use

Konjac gel

Sashimi konnyaku, usually served with miso-based dipping instead of soy sauce.

Konjac is grown in India, China, Japan and Korea 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.

In Japanese cuisine, konjac (known as 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. It is valued more for its texture than flavor.

Ito konnyaku (糸蒟蒻) 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. Hijiki is often added for the characteristic dark color and flavor. Without additives for color, konnyaku is pale white. It is then boiled and cooled to solidify. Konnyaku made in noodle form is called shirataki (see shirataki noodles) and used in foods such as sukiyaki and gyudon.

Konjac is consumed in parts of China's Sichuan province; the corm is called moyu (魔芋, or Devil's Taro), and the jelly is called "konjac tofu" (魔芋豆腐 moyu doufu) or "snow konjac" (雪魔芋 xue moyu).

The dried corm of the konjac plant contains around 40% glucomannan gum. This polysaccharide makes konjac jelly highly viscous.

Konjac has almost no calories but is very high in fiber. Thus, it is often used as a diet food.

Fruit jelly

Konjac can also be made into a popular Asian fruit jelly snack, known in the U.S. as konjac candy, usually served in bite-sized plastic cups.

Perhaps due to several highly publicized deaths and near-deaths among children and elderly due to suffocation while eating konjac candy, there were FDA product warnings^[1] in 2001 and subsequent recalls in the U.S. and Canada. Unlike gelatine and some other commonly used gelling agents, Konjac fruit jelly does not melt on its own in the mouth. The products that were then on the market formed a gel strong enough such that only chewing, but not tongue pressure or breathing pressure, could disintegrate the gel. The products also had to be sucked out of the miniature cup in which they were served and were small enough such that an inexperienced child could occasionally accidentally inhale them. Konjac fruit jelly was subsequently also banned in the European Union.^[2][3][4]

Some konjac jelly snacks now on the market have had their size increased so that they cannot be swallowed whole. The snacks usually have warning labels advising parents to make sure that their children chew the jelly thoroughly before swallowing. Japan's largest manufacturer of konjac snacks, MannanLife, has temporarily stopped production of the jellies after it was revealed that a 21-month old Japanese boy had choked to death on a frozen MannanLife konjac jelly.^[5] As of this incident, 17 children and elderly people have died from choking on konjac since 1995.^[6]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Amorphophallus konjac

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:Konnyaku

• Muk (Korean food)
• Shirataki noodles

References

• Kaidō wo Iku, vol. 20: Chūgoku—Shoku to Unnan no Michi (On the Road, vol. 20: China—The Roads of Shu and Yunnan) by Ryotaro Shiba (1987), Chapter 3.

External links

• Multilingual taxonomic information from the University of Melbourne
• Konnyaku: A Japanese Marvelous Traditional Health Food.
• How to make konjac foods (shirataki noodles or konnyaku)