Kekkyu Takana Mustard Seeds – Japanese Heading Mustard, Pickling & Stir-Fry (Brassica juncea)

Taiwan’s Prized Pickling Mustard — A Cool-Weather Kitchen Essential

Kekkyu Takana is a traditional Chinese and Japanese specialty mustard (Brassica juncea) highly prized in Taiwan and southern China for its outstanding pickling quality. In cool weather, the vigorous plants form compact small heads with a tightly wrapped core — crisp, tender, and packed with a pleasing mild mustard flavor. Equally delicious raw in salads, lightly stir-fried, or simmered in soups. High-yielding, easy to grow, and an exceptional cut-and-come-again vegetable for multiple harvests of stems and leaves.

Highlights

• Heirloom, non-GMO — traditional Japanese/Chinese specialty variety
• Mild mustard flavor — excellent raw or cooked
• Forms small wrapped head in cool weather — prized for pickling
• High-yielding; cut-and-come-again for multiple harvests
• Germination rate: 90% | Matures in 30–40 days
• Seed quantities: 5g ≈ 3,000 seeds | 1 oz ≈ 16,800 seeds

In the Kitchen

Most prized for pickling — harvest tight heads and preserve in brine or rice brine for a classic Asian condiment. Use in stir-fries with garlic and oyster sauce, or simmer in soups. Young leaves are mild enough to eat raw in salads. The white stalk base can be used like celery; mature leaves are excellent cooked.

Growing Guide

• Sow: Direct as soon as the ground can be worked; also sow 4–6 weeks before last frost, or late summer/early fall
• Depth: ½" deep; 3" apart; rows 12–24" apart; thin to 8–12" when 1–2" tall
• Soil: Semi-shade to full sun; fertile, well-drained; moist to 3" depth
• Temperature: Bolts above 75°F — time plantings for cool weather
• Germination: 4–7 days; do not fertilize until plants are 4 weeks old
• Mulch lightly to suppress weeds and retain moisture
• Harvest: Outer leaves as needed, or the entire plant at 30–40 days