List of land plants used in Otseqon cuisine

Otseqons grow a fairly wide variety of food plants. With a few exceptions—most prominently buckwheat—most cultivation occurs on a rather small scale in personal or communal gardens. The Otseqons simply do not have a lot of space for large-scale agriculture, instead growing many different species on a small scale, leading to considerable local and personal variation in ingredients and recipes.

The Otseqon boat formation spans a considerable range of latitudes, from relatively temperate in the north to subtropical in the south. The climate of the southernmost boats is more or less comparable to the central parts of the Ryūkyūan archipelago and is (just barely) warm enough for reef-building coral. Going north, the higher latitudes get cold enough to routinely snow in the winter, although it rarely dips below freezing. There is a bit of a horticultural and culinary divide based on latitude, manifest most obviously in the presence or absence of buckwheat, which is the most important crop on the more northern temperate boats and mostly absent in the south.

In addition to buckwheat, sweet potatoes, sunflowers, and peanuts (on the southern boats) are grown at scale. The kō plant, used to produce a tea-like stimulant drink of the same name, is also grown extensively everywhere in humid greenhouses.

Otseqon cuisine is not meant to look like any particular part of the world or any combination thereof. Any semblance to a Sichuanized Japan taking over Mexico is, I assure you, completely incidental.

Actinidiaceae
Moderately popular fruit. Generally eaten raw and whole and not usually used in cooking. They have exclusively fuzzy cultivars and most Otseqons enjoy the fuzzy texture of the fruit.
 * Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa)

Aizoaceae
Grows wild along the edges of the boats. The leaves are usually eaten after being briefly blanched.
 * Tetragonia tetragonioides

Amaranthaceae
The leaves and shoots are popular vegetables. They are usually eaten briefly blanched (Otseqons do not usually eat raw leaves) and unlike brassicas are not usually pickled. The seeds are well-regarded as a pseudocereal but are not eaten as a staple due to difficulty of processing.
 * Chenopodium berlandieri

Amaryllidaceae
Unlike the other alliums, which are cooked as a core spice, this is usually pickled and served as a garnish.
 * Garlic (Allium sativum)
 * Shallot (Allium cepa Aggregatum Group)
 * Allium chinense or Allium schoenoprasum

Anacardiaceae
Grown only on the southermost boats. Considered to be the finest fruit available. Eaten ripe or unripe, raw or cooked into niwas.
 * Mango (Mangifera indica)

Apiaceae
Who doesn't like carrots. All parts of the plant (leaves, seeds, and roots) commonly used as a spice. The ground seeds are used in Otseqon N spice powder. Often used in combination with coriander. Characteristic of the flavor of niwas, and not used as often in other types of dishes.
 * Carrot (Daucus carota sativus)
 * Coriandrum sativum (Coriander, cilantro)
 * Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel)
 * Cuminum cyminum (Cumin)

Asteraceae
The typical cooking oil. The seeds are used fairly extensively, including to produce a tempeh-type thing. The press cakes after extracting oil are used to produce a savory condiment. The seeds are blended with water in a type of hinnowō. Also grown ornamentally. Grown everywhere, although more extensively in the north. Its uses are mostly replaced by peanuts in the south. Common root vegetable.
 * Helianthus annuus (Sunflower)
 * Helianthus tuberosus (Jerusalem artichoke)

Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae is probably the single most important family of vegetables for the Otseqon and there are many, many varieties in cultivation. They are cultivated mainly for their greens, which are used to make a type of pickle called nichī, as well as for their roots. A variant of nichī pickle production is used to make an ingredient called tsachī, which is a common ingredient in qoya noodle dishes among other things.

Given the small-scale nature of Otseqon vegetable farming operations it is impossible to keep track of the exact cultivars they grow, many of which probably do not even exist in the real world anyway. Brassica spp. cultivars in particular are subject to extreme regional variation, even on very small scales (your neighbor probably grows something different from you).

The freshly crushed roots are commonly used as a spice. They are one of the two types of heat in Otseqon cuisine, tsazan, as compared with muri (hot like chili peppers). Horseradish leaves are sometimes added to a pickle box as a source of tannins. Unlike most of the other varieties of Brassica which are almost exclusively fermented, napa cabbage is both fermented and used fresh as a vegetable in soups, hotpots, stirfries, niwa, etc. Usually fermented, sometimes used as a fresh vegetable. Many many cultivars. A particular cultivar group is the vegetable used for producing tsachī. Like napa cabbage, this is the other main variety that is used both fermented and as a fresh vegetable. In shredded form it is one of the few Otseqon vegetables that is eaten uncooked. (They otherwise tend to avoid uncooked leafy things.) Grown both for its greens (you can guess what they're used for) and for radishes. Large daikon-type radishes are a ubiquitous vegetable. Daikon is one of the most common pickles eaten at the end of a meal.
 * Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana)
 * Brassica rapa
 * Napa cabbage (B. rapa Pekinensis Group)
 * B. rapa var. perviridis (or similar cultivar)
 * Brassica juncea
 * Brassica oleracea
 * Cabbage
 * Lord knows what else
 * Brassica raphanistrum sativus

Convolvulaceae
One of the most important Otseqon food crops, cultivated on a large scale on every boat. They are usually baked or steamed. The starch is used for various things, including to coat vegetables and shrimp before deep frying, as a thickening agent, and to make cellophane noodles. Baked sweet potato is a common street food strongly associated with fall and winter. Also used to produce a distilled beverage.
 * Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)

Cucurbitaceae
Otseqons grow a variety of cucurbits. They are commonly used in soups and stirfries and are some of the main vegetables used in pickle-box pickling. They're pickled anywhere from "basically fresh" to "carbonated". The pickles are eaten both alone as an appetizer and palate cleanser and together with fish and a thick sauce and wrapped in Otseqon flatbread ("Otseqon tacos").

A common vegetable on the southern boats. It is cooked into a variety of dishes and is a common pickle. It is often added to mead as a bittering agent. Iconic summer food. A cultivar with thick rind is used for pickles.
 * Bitter melon (Momordica charantia)
 * Cucumis melo (melon)
 * C. melo var. flexuosus (or similar)
 * C. melo var. reticulatus (cantaloupe) (they likely do not use this exact cultivar, but some similar sweet melon)
 * Benincasa hispida
 * Calabash (Lagenaria siceraria)
 * Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)

Cucurbita
Unlike the other cucurbits, they do not (usually?) pickle this nor eat it fresh. They have a dense, sweet cultivar similar to kabocha. It is a common autumn vegetable, usually simmered or braised and served on the side or coated in sweet potato starch and deep fried. Cultivar similar to butternut squash. Used almost interchangeably with the above squash. Grown primarily for its seeds, which are a core ingredient in sanpo. The seeds are also eaten as a snack. Unlike the other squash the flesh is rarely eaten, in large part because their cultivars are optimized for seed production.
 * C. maxima
 * C. moschata
 * C. pepo

Ebenaceae
Commonly eaten as a dried fruit. Ripe persimmons are eaten fresh. Unripe persimmons are used to add astringency to mead. They are also soaked in an alkaline solution (lye, lime, or simply wood ash), which reduces the astringency and makes them somewhat crisp.
 * Persimmon (Diospyros kaki)

Erythroxylaceae
Used to prepare kō, Otseqon tea. It is also used as a leaf vegetable and fermented. One of the more extensively cultivated plants, mostly in humid, temperature-controlled greenhouses within the hulls of the boats. The exact species is deliberately left ambiguous because Otseqonistan is very poorly suited for cultivation of the normal E. coca or E. novogranatense. Honestly this is one of the parts of Otseqon agriculture that makes the least sense but it's been there since the beginning and the aesthetic works somehow. It's not like Otseqonistan is really any better suited to production of Camellia sinensis either, but they need some sort of leafy stimulant drink.
 * Erythroxylum sp.

Fabaceae
Used as a versatile legume. Most commonly the immature seed pods are blanched in salted water and eaten like edamame or green peas. The seeds are sprouted and used as a vegetable. They are eaten boiled with salt as a common street food snack. It is also used to make a sort of milk thing which is mixed with sweet potato starch into something with roughly the consistency of tofu, which is usually eaten as a desert. Possibly they also make actual tofu with it. Also grown ornamentally. Extensively grown as a cover crop. Not really eaten directly except by kids trying random things, but clover honey is one of the most common types of honey (along with buckwheat honey), so it's indirectly quite important. A staple food on the southern boats. Used sort of like sunflower seeds in the north. Peanut oil is the dominant cooking oil in the south and is also used as a condiment. The press cake is used to make a version of tari. It is also used to make a sort of tempeh and for various peanut sauces. The southern Otseqons eat copious amounts of boiled peanuts.
 * Lupinus sp.
 * Trifolium sp.
 * Peanut (Arachis hypogaea)

Juglandaceae
Pecans are the favored tree nut of the Otseqons. Hickory wood is also extensively used for tools, construction, and smoking fish.
 * Carya sp. (Hickory)

Lamiaceae
Common herb. Cooked a lot with fish. Basil taxonomy is surprisingly complex and the different varieties have a large amount of variation. I think mostly they grow a couple varieties of O. basilicum or hybrids. I think Otseqon basil is a bit more like Thai basil than sweet basil. Maybe they have both.
 * Perilla frutescens var. ?
 * Ocimum sp. (Basil)

Malvaceae
Okra is a common vegetable on the southern boats, used in soups, niwas, stirfries, and pickles. Oil pressed from the seeds is a condiment added to many dishes and also used to produce a chili oil.
 * Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)

Moraceae
This plant is mostly grown for fiber, but the fresh fruits are eaten sometimes.
 * Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera)

Poaceae
Used to culture kōji, and thus instrumental in the production of various savory condiments and alcoholic beverages. Barley on its own is not nearly as common of a food as buckwheat, but barley tea is fairly commonly consumed, particularly as a cool drink in the summer. Pearled barley is occasionally steamed together with buckwheat groats and eaten with a savory condiment and pickled mustard greens, usually for breakfast or as a late-night snack. A sweet paste made from malted barley is used in many confections. Used to produce a distilled beverage, although not as commonly as sweet potato or buckwheat. Grown primarily as a cover crop. Rarely eaten, but sometimes it is steamed with or without buckwheat groats or made into tea. Some people consider it a health food. Bamboo shoots. Used fresh (cooked) or lacto-fermented.
 * Barley (Hordeum vulgare)
 * Rye (Secale cereale)
 * Bambusoideae

Polygonaceae
This is by far the most important crop in the more temperate regions where it is grown. It is used to produce tewa, Otseqon flatbread, which is eaten with basically every meal. It is also used to produce qoya, buckwheat noodles, which are the other major base for foods. Sometimes the groats are steamed and eaten kind of like rice. Buckwheat honey is the most common type of honey used to produce mead. Buckwheat hulls are used as a filling for upholstery. Not usually deliberately cultivated, but grows vigorously along the edges of the boats, especially in the warmer south. The fruits are well-regarded.
 * Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)
 * Coccoloba uvifera

Rosaceae
Rosaceae are the most important fruits to the Otseqons. Due to many similar species and extensive hybridization it's hard to say what definite species they grow in this family. They have their own hybrids and cultivars so the classification below is more functional than taxonomic.

Prunus
These are pickled in salt and then sun-dried to make a very sour, salty food often eaten as an accompanyment to mead or for flavor with whole buckwheat groats. Along with kō and horseradish it is used as a sort of cure-all remedy for mild ailments like colds and hangovers. The line between the above fruits gets a bit blurry, but they at least have two separate varieties.
 * Sweet cherries
 * Sour cherries
 * Plums
 * Apricots

Rubus
Blackberries and raspberries are greatly enjoyed as fresh fruit.

Rutaceae
One of the most common spices in Otseqon cuisine. They grown a couple different species. The fruit is used in a few different ways. The pericarp is used to produce a spice analogous to Sichuan pepper and the berries are also dried and used whole, often with grilled fish. They love this shit just like you and me
 * Zanthoxylum spp. (Sichuan pepper)

Citrus
Citrus cultivation and taxonomy is… complicated, and I am but a humble wikipedia reader, so take the feasibility of this with a grain of salt (this goes for everything in the document to be honest).

Usually grafted on to a more hardy rootstock. All-time top 3 fruit Very sour. Used to make suwi, and also commonly mixed with fish sauce in condiments. Widely grown for its juice. Used in condiments and added to soups, among other culinary uses. Its zest is used in Otseqon N spice powder. It is a bit less sour than the above citrus and its flavor profile is generally described as sawē ‘refreshing, invigorating’. Eaten whole. Tea, kʼeri, and kumquats is a food combination strongly associated with late winter.
 * C. maxima (Pomelo)
 * Backcross between C. maxima and C. maxima × reticulata. I really like grapefruit
 * C. japonica × reticulata
 * Hybrid between C. cavaleriei (ichang papeda) and bitter orange
 * C. cavaleriei × maxima
 * C. japonica var. margarita

Solanaceae
The Otseqons mostly grow mild cultivars of this pepper, preferring C. chinense for hot peppers. Sweet peppers are one of the more common Otseqon vegetables. Cultivars resembling habaneros are near ubiquitous in Otseqon food. I love habaneros Sweet, fully ripe tomatillos are eaten fresh or dried. Unripe tomatillos are used to impart a tart flavor to various sauces. They also look really cool Used extensively in sauces. Tomato-based sauces (usually based off tomatoes, fish sauce, and mead) are served with suwi and sometimes mixed with stirfries.
 * Capsicum annuum
 * Capsicum chinense
 * Tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa)
 * Eggplant (Solanum melongena)
 * Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

Zingiberaceae
Also used for dye.
 * Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
 * Turmeric (Curcuma longa)