Kalunay, is usually used, or cook as a veggie along with other vegetables on a Philippine (ilokano recipe) called denengdeng where vege's are mixed together. But kalunay also can be used as a herbal remedy for kidney and other health problems.

I have witnessed kalunay's ability when I was about 6 yers old back in the Philippines when we used to live in a farm. My dad used to drink (I'm talking about wine here) those times and  he also likes eating salty foods such as tinapa, bagoong, dilis,  and otherPinoy foods too. And then one day its started when he felt sick and he can barely get up of bed, or urinate. What I remember him drinking was boiled kalunay leaves my mom had picked from our kalunay plants, wash the leaves, and boiled it and gave it to my dad. And dad would drink it many times a day as a water substitute. He continued drinking it until he felt better, and later was cured.

Here's a picture of a kalunay plant I took when we visited my uncle's garden. I've tried to google to see if there's an image of kalunay, but none. What I found is an image of kulitis, which is a very look a like to kulitis and these two taste the same (for me) when cooked. There are only two things that differentiate kalunay and kulitis so you know which is which. Kalunay has larger leaves and has no thorns. Kulitis has smaller leaves and has thorns.

Above is a picture of kalunay. It's still a baby when I took a pic of it. Kalunay grows to 2 feet but last summer one of my uncle's kalunay plants grew up to more than 3 feet which is a sight to see.

Did you see those reddish sprouts? If you want to get all the nutrients kalunay has to offer for a healthy body, the best time to harvest and eat these vegetable is when its still small, where all its leaves are reddish, which is about 3 - 4 inches. Just get rid of its roots and cook it.