Monthly Memo From Doi's Culinary Philosophy
Original text by Doi Yoshiharu
Translated by Yoshiko Fukuda
February- Kisaragi
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*Kisaragi means "the month of putting on more clothes against the cold". It is said that in Japan the coldest month tends to be February.
(Information on Kisaragi - "Calendar, dates, and time." JAPAN: An Illustrated Encyclopedia 1 A-L. 1993 ed. )●Risshun-daikichi
The old "setsubun" used to be held on the very last day of the year, or 'oomisoka', and the next day was 'risshun', the beginning of spring, which commenced the new year.
○*On February 3rd, a Japanese traditional ceremony called "setsubun" is held. "Setsubun" is practiced to ward off evil spirits by throwing beans and calling out "Onihasoto, Fukuhauchi", (Out with the demons, and in with good luck!!). Now, risshun is on February 4, still a day after setsubun.
●In Western Japan, there is a custom where on the day of setsubun, a cooked sardine's head pierced on a branch of holly is put up over the doors to ward off evil sprits. This is because the thorn on the holly is said to poke the demon's eyes out when it tries to enter a house, and both the smell and the smoke of sardines will drive them away. The custom of furnishing holly is much older, as a matter of fact older by about a thousand years, than the practice of "mamemaki" or the scattering beans on setsubun. Because holly is said to lose the sharp points in its leaves after sixty to seventy years, it is called a kisshou (felicitous) tree, a tree that gets rounder as it ages.
Sardines impregnate themselves during the freezing month of February and that is why they are most delicious during this time. A sardine with its black spotted silver body gleaming with rich fat is called a "seven star" and at some restaurants they make sardine sushi arranged with holly leaves or they make shio-yaki or salt roast sardines.
●Fukumame
The custom of mamemaki involves a pun on the word "mame" and "me". Mame can either mean beans or eyes of the demon. The word "me" means eyes or a bud of plants depending on how it is written in kanji. Thus, in order to completely make sure that the eyes of a demon(mame) will never fall upon humans again, the Japanese will poach the soybeans(mame) for mamemaki, called the fukumame, so they will not germinate. By making the beans unable to germinate people are able to seal in the evil acts that might have been performed by the demons during the year.
Soybeans are a fundamental element in our diet. It has become something we just cannot live without, since they are always a part of our daily food, for example in miso or tofu. And the soybeans are helping the Japanese stay healthy. Because of this important role soybeans play, they are sometimes given a different set of kanji that reads mame, yet the meaning is 'supernatural power that destroys evil spirits'. In mamemaki, we shout out the phrase, "Oni ha soto, fuku ha uchi", yet in some regions people only call out "Fuku ha uchi" because they do not want to upset the demons. Also, by not mentioning "out with the demons", people try to demonstrate their benevolence toward even the demons, welcoming them into the house. By countering evil with good, they hope to change the demons' minds and make them into good spirits. The beans used in mamemaki are called fukumame, which taken apart into 'fuku' and 'mame' will mean beans of good luck. Thus, on the night of setsubun, the Japanese will eat the same amount of beans as their age and one extra, to enjoy even the new years good luck. The Japanese sometimes serve other cooked beans with the fukumame to wish for family's safety throughout the year. Some may even steam the rice with the fukumame in it to appreciate the blended taste of beans in the rice. Recently, eating a whole makisushi, sushi that are not cut into bite size pieces, while facing the direction of the deity of that certain year, is practiced to bring in good luck. However some sushi places serve a whole makisushi not specifically on this occasion. Maybe this practice has already taken root in our lives.
●Hatsuuma
*Hatsuuma is the first "day of the horse" in February as determined by the Chinese and Japanese zodiacal traditions. It is connected with the belief in Inari or the deity of cereals, since during the 8th century many Inari shrines have held festivities on hatsuuma.
(Information on Hatsuuma - "Hatsuuma." JAPAN: An Illustrated Encyclopedia 1 A-L. 1993 ed. )On Hatsuuma, abura-age or fried bean curd is offered at the family Shinto altar. This is because abura-age is the favorite food of the fox who is a messenger from the deity. Thus abura-age is often served on this day at even individual households.
●Preserving Traditional Customs
Many people usually want to know the true meanings of the events and customs passed on from their ancestors for generations. Yet, nowadays the fact is, that most of us do not know even half of the original purpose or meaning of the customs we practice. Most of the interpretations are what were later added on by the people who practiced the custom and others are what contemporary society thought fit. The customs that are handed down for many generations in some regions are changed, losing its genuineness, because they are greatly influenced by the findings of modern study of Ethnology. After hearing a professor of that field talk of the meaning of a specific custom, people correct their ways accordingly. However, they should preserve their custom in its original form whether it agrees with the modern interpretations or not since that may be the way it was intended.
●Wonders Beneath the Snow
Although cold days still continue to have its influence over us, we know that spring is definitely on its way since plum flowers are starting to bloom in some parts Tokyo. Anticipating the subtle difference in season and changing our spirits and attitudes accordingly is one of the characteristics of Japanese culture.
We tend to think that it is winter still when we are wearing our coats over the layered clothing and looking out at the chilling scenery from a window. But actually under the snow, it is certain that vivid green leaves of small plant growing on the black soil, can be found. Plants do not demonstrate any great changes until they receive warm rays from the sun but vegetables that already were green from autumn will keep their color and wait patiently for spring under the snow. Therefore some vegetables are at their best during the winter. It is not commonly known but white radish, carrots, spinach, Japanese mustard spinach, other green vegetables, lotus root, and taro, are most delicious around this time. All the wonders beneath the snow… now is the best time to eat them!
The Joy of Discovering Delicious Vegetables
●Edona
Recently I have found a couple of new delicious vegetables. One is grown traditionally in the region around Edo river in Tokyo called the edona (Edo leaf), a hybrid of komatsuna, a Japanese mustard spinach. In its appearance, edona is lager than komatsuna, and it has a darker shade of green and the individual leaves are thick and tender. In addition, it has a pleasant sounding name. In Tokyo, people are starting to sell edona as a traditional vegetable in Japan, yet edona is not sold in great amounts since farmers do not grow enough of it and only small amounts of it are harvested. They are grown organically with great care and even after it had been exposed to the frost, the taste is surprisingly better. Immediately after having gotten to know the vegetable, I boiled it, discovering that the thicker part of the stem seemed as if it almost melted away. These kind of delicious vegetables are at its best when cooked in a simple manner.
●Aka-negi
In Nakagawa of Ibaragi-ken (prefecture), an unusual vegetable called aka-negi, only grown in the area can be found. Negi is green onion or scallion, or depending on different countries it is referred to as shallot or spring onion. However this green onion is reddish purple on the bottom part of its stem thus called aka(red) negi. Because the aka-negi is deep rooted in soil, it adopts its splendid dark red color in the long stalks by earthing up during growth. For a while, because the farmers were trying to grow aka-negi as a vegetable only made in their region, they never developed any hybrids outside and they never forgot to cut its roots before shipping them out. However, they have found out that there really was no need to do so, since grown in other regions, aka-negi will not adopt the color red, but will only turn out white and blanched like all the other negi. Believe it or not, the richness that the soil contains gives the vegetable its unique color of red.
The edonas are currently grown in Katsuramura, a region which used to be called Akutsu. From even a long time ago, Akutsu was known to have fertile soil because of its frequent flood. Even though the floods destroyed the harvest, the disaster brought in nutrient containing soil and actually functioned to renew the farming ground. Therefore, rather than getting disappointed over the damage done to the crops, farmers were thankful to the newly restored farming soil.
Mr. Hiroki, an expert in growing aka-negi organically without any pesticides, lives a life of self-sufficiency. When I visited him in January, he told me that there were loaches underneath the soil even thought there were no water accumulated on the field. According to him, when they do let the water in to the field in late spring, the loaches will wiggle out of from underneath.
During my stay, his wife made me a "nuta" out of aka-negi in a very swift manner, and I got to eat it in a warm pit-type kotatsu, or a traditional type of heater where a table is placed over a pit with a electric heater in it. The aka-negi was boiled, then cooled with water and then served in a home made miso that was dissolved in vinegar. Aka-negi, along its stalk, has a beautiful color gradation of red, pink, white, green and yellow, with a favorable scent and little pungency in the taste.
●Homemade Soba
Mr. Hiroki gets eggs from his Nagoya hens and when visitors come to his house he will butcher one of them and cooks it for the guests. He will make a soup out of chicken meat and bones, mushrooms and vegetables. And without even measuring neither the amount of water nor the amount of buckwheat flour he will start pounding the soba, telling his guests to "Just sit down and eat my soba!". In only a matter of few moments, he will have boiled the soba in a huge pot over a large modified gas burner, drained it and rinsed it with water from the well.
People who live in this region, I am told, are trained to make soba as soon as they turn seventeen of age, in a mandatory fashion. Because of this practice, everyone can make his or her own homemade soba. Mr. Hiroki, himself, had been making soba for more than fifty years, thus mastering the technique. The soba that he makes is not the kind that are served at restaurants, all thinly cut and refined which when eaten seems to glide down the throat. However, his noodles are very masculine and thick and when dipped in the original soup filled with various ingredients.
I realized that this is the true soba; a firm, simple and very homely soba, which is paired up with a ingredient filled soup or even a loach soup. A side dish to sake can even be made out of this soba when it is cut rather thick, and served with a little bit of soy sauce.
Udon from Kagawa and pot sticker from China are meals made to enjoy the taste of flour. Yet, being born in Osaka, I never knew what the true taste of soba was, always thinking that it was rather a dish of supercilious air. But now I feel like I finally found out the real taste of soba. As soon as I got home I immediately cooked my own version of soba with confidence and tried the Chicken soba with plenty of aka-negi.
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