Vocabulary:
spring - haru (はる) 春
vegetable - yasai (やさい) 野菜
know - shiru (しる) 知る
bamboo shoots - takenoko （たけのこ）竹の子
mountain vegetable or bracken - warabi (わらび） 蕨
horseradish - wasabi わさび
rice with bamboo shoot - takenoko gohan (たけのこごはん) 竹の子ご飯
Vegetables harvested in season are said to be the most tasty and have the highest nutrition. Spring is a time where bamboo shoots and some other vegetables are given extra attention by the Japanese people. Two weeks ago, my Japanese friend gave me a big, fresh bamboo shoot which she herself dug in a mountain area in Kyushu. I was so excited but I didn't know how to cook it so she taught me the right procedure. That is an interesting method of cooking the shoot the Japanese way - boiling it in rice water until cooked (Fig. 1). I assure you it has made the shoot smell so good. After having done that, one is ready to put it in any kind of dishes. I added it in rice and in a dish called "nitsuke" (boiled root crops, mushrooms, carrots and chicken flavored with (katsuobushi) bonito made in a very special way (Fig. 2). Japanese add mountain vegetables to their "nitsuke". Mountain vegetables or brackens or "warabi" in Nihonggo are obtained from the mountain areas. They are cooked in a particular way to remove any undesirable and unhealthful components (Fig. 3). I also added the cooked bamboo shoots in my Thai curry dish (Fig. 4). Thus, this vegetable is a versatile one. It is actually an ingredient in many Asian dishes, too. Other spring vegetables that I see are the horseradish leaves with flower buds (Fig. 5) and the veggie called "urui", a kind native to Yamagata prefecture (Fig. 6). The former is the plant of the "wasabi", the hot green thing added to sushi. The greens are put in soups or fried like "tempura". The "urui" vegetable can also be made into tempura or added fresh in salads. But these two veggies are good plant materials for a flower (or shall I say vegetable arrangement) I thought, so I playfully arranged them in a flower vase (Fig. 7)!
spring - haru (はる) 春
vegetable - yasai (やさい) 野菜
know - shiru (しる) 知る
bamboo shoots - takenoko （たけのこ）竹の子
mountain vegetable or bracken - warabi (わらび） 蕨
horseradish - wasabi わさび
rice with bamboo shoot - takenoko gohan (たけのこごはん) 竹の子ご飯
Vegetables harvested in season are said to be the most tasty and have the highest nutrition. Spring is a time where bamboo shoots and some other vegetables are given extra attention by the Japanese people. Two weeks ago, my Japanese friend gave me a big, fresh bamboo shoot which she herself dug in a mountain area in Kyushu. I was so excited but I didn't know how to cook it so she taught me the right procedure. That is an interesting method of cooking the shoot the Japanese way - boiling it in rice water until cooked (Fig. 1). I assure you it has made the shoot smell so good. After having done that, one is ready to put it in any kind of dishes. I added it in rice and in a dish called "nitsuke" (boiled root crops, mushrooms, carrots and chicken flavored with (katsuobushi) bonito made in a very special way (Fig. 2). Japanese add mountain vegetables to their "nitsuke". Mountain vegetables or brackens or "warabi" in Nihonggo are obtained from the mountain areas. They are cooked in a particular way to remove any undesirable and unhealthful components (Fig. 3). I also added the cooked bamboo shoots in my Thai curry dish (Fig. 4). Thus, this vegetable is a versatile one. It is actually an ingredient in many Asian dishes, too. Other spring vegetables that I see are the horseradish leaves with flower buds (Fig. 5) and the veggie called "urui", a kind native to Yamagata prefecture (Fig. 6). The former is the plant of the "wasabi", the hot green thing added to sushi. The greens are put in soups or fried like "tempura". The "urui" vegetable can also be made into tempura or added fresh in salads. But these two veggies are good plant materials for a flower (or shall I say vegetable arrangement) I thought, so I playfully arranged them in a flower vase (Fig. 7)!
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| Figure 1. Bamboo shoots after boiling in rice water |
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Figure 2. Rice with bamboo shoots and my version of "nitsuke" (right of rice). Other dishes included in the
photo are fried sardine fries (top left), burdoch strips and home-made kimchi (top middle). Fresh
strawberries are the dessert.
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| Figure 3. Ready to eat "warabi" - mountain vegetables or brackens |
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| Figure 4. Thai curry with bamboo shoots |
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| Figure 5. Horseradish (wasabi) leaves and flowers |
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| Figure 6. "Urui" vegetables |
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| Figure 7. Vegetable/flower arrangement |
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