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The "Inu-garashi" (Rorippa indica) belongs to Brassicaceae (the Mustard family). It is an annual herb that is distributed throughout Japan, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, China, and India. It grows along the banks of rice paddies and in grasslands and other slightly moist places, and grows 10 to 50 cm tall. The leaves are oblong, peduncle stalked, and lobed, and yellow, cross-shaped flowers bloom at the ends of the stems from April to September. Its Japanese name comes from the fact that its flowers and fruits resemble the leaf mustard, which is useless. It is called "葶藶" in Taiwanese Chinese and "蔊菜 (han cai)" in Chinese.
In Korean, it's called "gae-gat-naeng-i" (개갓냉이). This is a compound word consisting of "dog" (gae: 개) + "mustard" (gat: 갓) + "shepherd's purse" (naeng-i: 냉이). "kae" (개) is a prefix that indicates something is different or slightly inferior.
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