May 15, 2015

Kogomi and Kinome/こごみと木の芽

I just don't know how many times I have posted about these two sansai (edible wild plants) here in my blog. I'd hate to make repetitious posts about the same topic, but then again, I just can't resist the temptation to show some photo here, because I love sansai, just like most Japanese. So, here they are.
このブログでこれまで何回、この二種類の山菜ついて書いてきたか、分かりません。同じ話題について繰り返し書きたくないのですが、とはいえ、多くの日本人と同様、山菜が大好きなので、写真を少し載せたい気持ちを抑えることができないので、ちょっとだけ載せます。。

Kogomi or kogome (young shoots of ostrich fern (fiddleheads)):
こごみ、またはこごめ(ostrich fernの若芽(fiddleheads):


kinome (young shoots of three-leaf akebia):
木の芽(三つ葉アケビの若芽):
In other parts of Japan, kinome means young leaves of sansho (Japanese pepper).
日本の他の地域では、木の芽とは山椒の若葉のことです。

Both sansai were boiled for two minutes or so, drained, cooled in cold water, drained again, and had with any of ponzu, mayonnaise, and katsuobushi.
ともに、2分ほど茹でて、水を切り、冷水で冷まし、再度水を切り、ポン酢、マヨネーズ、鰹節で食べました。

6 comments:

Yangsze said...

Ooh! When you eat it, do you just dip it in the mayonnaise or ponzu on the side, or do you toss them in the sauce? Looks delicious! :)

Hiroyuki said...

Yangsze: As for kogome, I personally have it by dipping it in ponzu (plus some mayo sometimes) in a small plate. As for kinome, I usually sprinkle a generous amount of katsuobushi over it in the bowl, and have it by dipping it in ponzu in a small plate.

The answer will vary depending on whom you ask. A lot of local people here like to have kinome with quail eggs (plus katsuobushi and soy sauce).

okasan said...

We can only get Kogomi in spring so I am happy to see your posting. Every spring my son will remind me to get some, there is only a small window of time this is available. I stir fry with just olive oil and a little bit of salt. This year I tried putting it with pasta and chicken.

Hiroyuki said...

okasan: We can only get kogomi here in spring, too. It's only that spring comes rather late here in the snowy region. This year, in particular, spring came here very late because of the incredible amount of snowfall in winter.

9895039531 seeandoh said...

Good to see your dish made from Ostrich fern. I too like soups made from leafy vegetables like this. We have certain fern which grows in the water wells here in Kerala, S. India. Are some ferns toxic like mushrooms ?

Hiroyuki said...

seeandoh: Bracken is known to contain a small amount of cancer-causing substance, but that won't cause any problems as long as we have them in small quantities.