I like wild vegetables. I especially like butterbur sprouts and koshirabara tempura.
Butterbur sprouts are sold in supermarkets around January, and they disappear from the shelves as soon as I think, “They’re so expensive. I’ll buy them when they’re a little cheaper. Finding the right time to buy them is difficult.
First of all, there is no restaurant where I can say, “I can always get wild vegetable tempura here,” even if you want to eat wild vegetable tempura in a restaurant. I would be happy if Marugame Seimen always had it on their toppings menu.
That is why I expect wild vegetables as a “hometown tax return” every year.
However, the “Furusato” tax return gift of wild vegetables depends on when the shipment is made and what kind of wild vegetables were harvested in the mountains. As for me, I would be happy if there were butterbur sprouts and koshibra, and I would be satisfied if there were cod roe, but the reality is that it is not always possible to get exactly what I want.
Ishi said to me, “I received some wild vegetables from the Hometown Tax Donation Program. I put them in the refrigerator, so let’s make tempura today. It is always my job to cook wild vegetables.
I was worried when I checked the wild vegetables that arrived to start preparing the meal. They were a little different from what I had expected.
Taranome, udo, butterbur, ului, and mountain wasabi.
She had told me that five kinds of wild vegetables had arrived, so today was going to be a tempura festival. Although “festival” sounds good, it also means that we will only prepare tempura, rice, and miso soup. However, the five items that came out of the fridge were a bit unexpected for me.
Mountain Wasabi. It is called horseradish. I did not know what to make of it as an ingredient to be served with roast beef. A white burdock that looks like a white burdock. This is not suitable for tempura.
Butterbur. It is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine, but it is cooked. It is not usually used in tempura.
Udo. This is also not suitable for tempura, but the tips can be made into tempura.
Udo is a leaf that I am not familiar with and do not have much opportunity to eat. It is bright green in color and is said to be tastier stir-fried with egg than tempura.
What a hassle, five different kinds of tempura, each cooked in a different way. The Tempura Festival is canceled. Tempura was downgraded to a dinner to be served.
The gas stove was ready to fry tempura, so we made tempura as planned. I fried taraname and udo no hoto-tip. Separately, I fried uroi with fried tofu and beaten egg, seasoned with sugar, soy sauce, sake, and mirin.
You made me panic, you know?
As a reward, I will grate some horseradish and eat it with the meat. However, buying roast beef is a waste of money, so I’ll use either pork chops or sausages that I have in the refrigerator.
(2023.05.21)
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