Japanese knotweed in milk chocolate

Japanese knotweed in milk chocolate

Reynoutria japonica

Japanese knotweed has a notorious reputation as an invasive and damaging species, but little discussed is it's deliciousness!  It tastes a little like rhubarb, and can be used in any recipe that suits rhubarb - it is less sharp in flavour and so needs less sugar.  You do need to take care harvesting it - it is an offense to spread it in any way, so when cutting stems ensure you take every part of the plant away with you in a secure container.  Those bits you don't use - the leaves, tough parts of the stem, should be burnt rather than composted and on no account put them in your garden waste bins or food waste bins - unless they have been boiled!

Public service message over, trust that we have done all of that, and try this delicious chocolate!  We have dried paste made from the stems and ground it into the chocolate, but also added small bits of crystalised stem.  We selected Chocolate Tree's Guatemala 50% milk chocolate for this, which is fruity and creamy in flavour, and we think works really well with the rhubarby knotweed.

Ingredients: Cocoa solids 54% minimum: cocoa beans, cane sugar, whole MILK powder; dried Japanese knotweed (3%); crystalised Japanese knotweed stems (Japanese knotweed stems, sugar) (4%)

Net wt: 50g

Best before: end 10/25