When I started drafting this, it was still Sakura season. There are countless varieties of these blooms, so while the most famous variety appears for only a few days, I think of Sakura season being a weeks-long affair.
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| Taken by my sakura-smitten daughter |
According to Wikipedia, licensed courtesans in 17th century Japan were not allowed outside their quarters except to visit dying relatives and, once a year, to view the cherry blossoms. Such was, and is, the significance of this season. It is the renewal of both the academic and fiscal year, a syncopated step off from most of the rest of the world. If you are visiting Japan during this time, my advice would be…head for the countryside. Forget Tokyo, Kyoto. This year foreign tourists returned will full force alongside domestic tourists spurred on by the government’s travel subsidies. Points of the city became no-go zones. Can barely walk and breathe, let alone enjoy cherry blossoms. So go country, or come earlier or later for the less iconic (though no less spectacular) varieties.
It is also the season for fresh bamboo shoots, takenoko. This is Japan’s takenokozeit. Its ubiquity is such that it turns up at roadside pit stops in the form of soba and takenoko. It’s sold fresh for bags at supermarkets (for only the equivalent of $5 usd).
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| It's hard to appreciate how big they are...each is the size of my foot. |
Cooking fresh shoots is a bit of a production, but the taste is worth it compared to the prepackaged type. The shoots have to be washed well. They underground and come with a lot of dirt, which I somehow take as a sure sign of freshness. The tips have to be cut off and the outer layer slitted to ensure the insides cook. Most importantly, they have too simmer in rice bran, or absent that, the water leftover from washing white rice. This helps neutralize the bitterness and natural toxins found in bamboo shoots. Finally, after cooking, the tough outer layers are peeled off to reveal the tender center.
My favorite thing to do with these is to sauté them with Japanese mayonnaise and season with sea salt and seaweed. I’ve embraced Japanese ingredients and given up on sticking to old favorites. It is just easier (and less expensive) to make Japanese curry compared to American chili. I haven’t seen a cannellini bean or a fennel in two years. I do miss them, but...when in Rome, right (does this apply when you are actually living in "Rome")?
What else? It's May 1st today and I am reminded of all those who work impossibly hard - even on the day that was meant as a tribute to them - so we have food delivered to our doorstep the exact time we want it, so we don't deal with the garbage we produce, so we can place convenience on a pedestal and easily forget all the inconveniences necessary to create it. It is a day where I am thinking of all the things I too often take for granted.
In Japan, the first week of May is Golden Week, a volley of holidays within a seven day period. It began with Showa Day at the end of last week. May 3 will be Constitution Day, marking the establishment of Japan's postwar constitution. May 4 is Greenery Day (because it is said that the former Emperor Showa loved plants and nature...), and finally, May 5 is Children"s Day, marked by the iconic carp streamers fluttering outside homes, parks, and other public spaces. Golden Week is possibly Japan's most popular week for travel, and it will be insanely crowded everywhere. The husband is on call anyways. The plan is to stay put, clean the house, put away our winter clothes, cook things we don't usually have time to cook, and play lots and lots of Uno, to which E is completely addicted.
