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Published: March 3rd 2008
apricots
on a hot summer day...: strict
nabe: Japanese hot pot, cooked in a broth often flavored with Miso, Kim chee and/or dashi
hakusai: nappa cabbage, or Chinese cabbage
daikon: Japanese giant, white radish
hiyayakko: cold tofu, eaten with soy sauce, green onions, katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and
ginger
soumen: cold noodles in a dashi (fish stock) and soy sauce broth
anzu: apricot (I think)
In Japan, they are pretty
kibishii about seasonal eating. When a fruit is out of season, it’s very rare to see in local supermarkets…but when a fruit is in season, it’s everywhere! In the stores, in school lunch…other teachers and locals bring them to school or wherever they happen to meet you and give you bags of mikan,
daikon or persimmons…every week…not to mention insisting that you help deplete the teacher room’s crateful of produce that was donated by a student’s family. Not only that, but there’s also certain types of food that you eat in the seasons. Like in fall and winter, it’s all about eating
nabe filled with seasonal veggies like
nappa and
daikon. But I don’t even recall seeing nabe broth in the stores during the summer…they didn’t
Kobe
favorite little 3rd cousin...4th cousin...once removed??? Hmmmmm...awwwwwww isn't he cute? appear on the shelves until mid-fall I think. BUT summer foods, that you see everywhere in summer, but pretty much never in winter, are
hiyayakko and
soumen.
But basically you can tell what season it is by just taking a look at which fruit or vegetable you have too much of and consume in some form every day in a vain attempt to get rid of them all before they go bad. Why such abundance? Well, in addition to being in a big agricultural area of Japan, I would say most of the people living in the countryside do some sort of farming or crop raising on a small scale. Many of them don’t have enough to be commercial, just a single rice field in the summer, used to raise daikon and other vegetables in the winter, along with a plot of fruit trees. This supplies their own home supply for their family- usually organic and pesticide free according to my teachers. What they don’t need for home consumption is given away to relatives, family friends, neighbors, teachers…anyone who wants it.
This seasonal abundance reminded me of this past summer, of Grandma and Grandpa’s apricot trees. Even though
they only had two trees, they definitely had enough fruit to supply the family, relatives and friends. Brent, Kobe, Anthony and I picked apricots for a couple of days…for the next couple of weeks, it was apricot everything…we made jam, ate fresh apricots, tried to sun dry some, and made a lot of apricot crisp. In Japan, apricots, as far as I can tell, are not very common. I think they are called
anzu. Sigh…so alas, all I have left from apricot season is the memories…and pictures and a jar of jam.
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Zach
non-member comment
DdnFk KOx00H_mÐÍõnMnn Dú’qWfOf WKc_Hope those mikan and company are giving you some needed VC! The pictures are so beautiful - maybe I could give california a chance some day....;o)