I wrote this for a local publication last week, and thought to share it here as well. I love this vegetable, by whatever name you call it. It grows here but not well, but would grow very well in zones 7 and up.

Corchorus olitorius is a plant with a lot of names. In Egypt, it is called "Mulukhiya" which is spelled about a dozen ways. It means "king's plant" because legend is that it cured a sick pharaoh, and it has been the national vegetable ever since. It is more popularly know in the west as "jew's mallow". One source says that this is because the Jews of Aleppo were very fond of it, but more accounts mention its popularity with the Jews of Alexandria. A website devoted to Israeli heirloom seeds informs me that it was eaten in both present day and ancient Israel. It is popular throughout the Levant, and into southern Europe. There are lots of recipes, most having to do with chicken, which is said to combine with it perfectly. As a vegetarian, I'll have to take their word for it on that, but I think it tastes great by itself.
It is a weed in much of Africa and farmers traditionally leave it and tend it in their fields. It is a valuable staple, often dried and stored for future use as soup stock throughout Africa and the Caribbean, often under the names “bush okra”, “tossa jute” or “vegetable jute”. The okra connection is that it is in the same family as okra. Its seedpods, which are also eaten, look a lot like okra, and they have similar consistency which thickens dishes up. The jute connection is that it is jute, and its fibers are sometimes used to make burlap.
In Japan, it is ground to a powder and put in tea bags and sold as a trendy health food. They are excited about scientific research showing extraordinarily high antioxidant content and other nutrition benefits, some of which remain mysterious to me due to my ignorance of bio-chemistry and Japanese. It is known as saluyot in the Philippines where it is abundant and features highly in traditional cuisine. There are many fan sites devoted to it there, as there are in Egypt. There are also many Filipino sites promoting schemes to get rich selling it to Japan where it does not grow as well. It is considered a blessing for the poor wherever it occurs, and is often promoted by government workers concerned with rural nutrition.
Egyptian spinach likes it hot, like its cousin okra, and should be cultivated in a similar way. Nichols and Kitazawa seed companies are the only sources for the seed I know of. Most asian or ethnic grocery stores have it in the frozen foods section. Whatever the name, it has an unusually long and colorful history. I think it has a very bright future in American gardens and cuisine.

www.nicholsgardennursery.com/sto....asp

www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_m...hia.html