May 9, 2010

Koshiabura/コシアブラ

Koshiabura (Acanthopanax sciadophylloides) is called the "sansai no joo" (queen of edible wild plants). My wife got a pack of koshiabura tempura from a relative, so I will post a photo of it.
コシアブラは「山菜の女王」と呼ばれます。妻が親戚からコシアブラの天ぷらをもらったので、写真を載せます。


"So, what is the "sansai no o" (king of edible wild plants)?", you might ask. Tara no me (fatsia sprout) is called the king of edible wild plants.
「じゃあ、「山菜の王」は何なの?」と言うかも知れませんが、タラの芽が山菜の王と呼ばれています。

Notes:
Image of tara no me
Images of koshiabura

3 comments:

Nigel said...

It's great to find a post about koshiabura!

I had them in tempura, just like your picture, at my wife's grandmother's house a couple of weeks ago and I've been trying to find information about them online in English but with no luck.

Do you know if koshiabura have an English name or are used in cooking outsed of Japan?

Hiroyuki said...

Nigel: I can't give you any definite answers to your question, so I posted the questions here in eGullet:
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/104597-foraging-for-favorites/page__view__findpost__p__1744260
Let's hope we get any good answers!

Nigel said...

Thank you very much! And also thank you for your comment on my blog. I'll keep my eye on the eGullet forum.

To be honest, I've eaten sansai several times over the years, but usually I haven't tried to figure out what they would be called in English.

I live in Miyagi and last year my wife and I went to an onsen on Zao mountain. The place was called Daichuu and the food was great - but the most interesting dish was a plate of sansai nigirizushi! I wish I had taken photos!

Anyway, I'm still going through some of your older posts but I'm enjoying your blog a lot. Hopefully, we can keep in touch!