Washism

The first time i saw this mountain vegetable at the supermart, i didnt dare buy it cos the stalks are sooooo long, while the leaves look so thick.

Preparing this mountain vegetable called fuki requires the traditional technique known as itazuri. This involves pre-treating with salt and soaking in water to remove harsh bitter taste of the vegetable.

The stalks also have a very thick layer of fiber which must be removed after blanching in hot water.After all the preparation, simmered in dashi and mixed with bonito for a typical obanzai (kyoto traditional cuisine) fuki ohitashi.
the leaves were soaked in water for half a day before they can be used for cooking because the bitterness is much stronger than the stalks. After chopping them fine, made furikake (topping for rice) with white bait and sweet soya sauce.

These 2 simple dishes took a lot of time and effort, but it was a good lesson for me =)
Was inspired to try fuki after a traditional kyoto chef featured it on tv.

So in traditional style, for dinner, we had
grilled sawara, miso soup, fuki ohitashi, fuki furikake,
home made tofu (steamed soybean milk and nigari), topped with onion dashi and mentaiko

and another furikake i made with smoked salmon flakes, egg flakes and nori bits


Got this fetish for making furikake recently.

Used to enjoy buying a whole lot of furikake when i did my JP flights and stock them in my suitcase cos they not only make a good rice accompaniment, they are also good as salad topping, or when mixed with cream cheese, they go well with bread too! There are many variations of furikake in the supermart, but am getting a bit bored with the usual, so am enjoying trying to make them on my own at home ^_^