Robinjw13

Thanks Helenjp, I sincerely hope I will one day be considering pruning and grafting! Re-assuring to know they are so tough, here in England it gets down to -6 celcius in winter and I've already learnt that our slugs are partial to Japanese food so I won't risk all of them outside yet (although 10cm high Sansho survived the last winter outside). The intense fragrance of six yuzu fruit filled our (large) kitchen for days when we returned from Japan in January. I'll never forget that unique scent.

Are there any Yuzu-growing experts on this forum? I know there's a couple of specialist citrus-grower forums in the US & Canada but the Japanese probably have more experience of Yuzu than anybody. I bought some locally-grown Yuzu from a shop in Hamamatsu and several have now germinated: What next? ! At this young stage (5cm tall) what would you do? Currently I'm planning to re-pot the largest to see if a tap root is developing yet and in general I'll leave it to nature to bring these specimens to maturity but I'm curious to know if others have successfully nurtured yuzu from seed to fruit over the 15 or so years it takes.....

Thank you Hiroyuki, seems I was way out on the depth & since half the item was out of the oil that may have kept temperatures down too. Your post in the daikon thread about dealing with the oily nature of the served food will help in my next attempt....

Just a little more on the nutritional value of daikon. The leaves are much more nutritious than the root: 100g root contains: 230 mg potassium 24 mg calcium 10 mg magnesium 18 mg phosphorus 12 mg vitamin C 34 µg folic acid 100g leaves contain: 400 mg potassium 260 mg calcium 3900 µg beta-carotene 330 µg retinol 53 mg vitamin C 270 µg vitamin K 140 µg folic acid The root contains diastase, an enzyme that helps digestion and stimulates appetite. The above breakdown is from the Food Composition Database at: http://food.tokyo.jst.go.jp/ - in Japanese!

Thanks to the expert advice here, in the previous thread and in the cook-off, I felt able to try my first ever tempura at home yesterday. Something that worked well: Angelica leaf! This is Angelica archangelica, but doubtless the Japanese ashitaba (Angelica keiskei) would work too. Beautiful flavour. I was going to try the stems but ran out of time and oil... Something that did not work: Almost everything! I tried small daikon leaves, shungiku, yomogi (new autumn growth), thinly sliced raw carrot, sage and fennel leaves. The carrot (Japanese variety) worked well but I have these observations: 1. Flavour from most leaves was poor and often barely detetectable; 2. Everything tasted oily; 3. On some leaves, especially the fennel, the batter was un-cooked in the middle due to the thickness of the layer. Many items spent 3 to 5 minutes in the oil and all were turned half-way through to crisp up both sides (I can hear some laughter...). I used a wok and the oil (sesame + sunflower mixed) was about 5mm deep at first, reducing as cooking proceeded. I used a whole egg, one cup of wheat-based self-raising flour and one cup of ice-cold tap water. The batter mixture looked ok to my un-trained eye but I suspect I should have used a small vertical-sided pan rather than a wok, to ensure a greater depth of oil. All leaves were used about 30 minutes after harvest. So some very basic questions please! First, what is the recommended time any one item should spend in the oil? Second, what would you suggest is the minimum depth of oil? Third, are finely-segregated leaves like fennel, that tend to gather and retain a lot of batter, really suitable and is there a special technique for these?

For an idyllic and quiet country setting just outside Brighton you can't beat Bruce Wass & head chef Richard Willis at The Jolly Sportsman, East Chiltington. Excellent range of local beers too.... a miniature Gravetye Manor in the making, methinks.

Thank you for your encouragement Helenjp, and I certainly had no idea that many of the sansho trees in Japan are propagated vegetatively. Incidentally I've had only about 20 seeds germinate out of a few hundred sown (see my avatar for these!). Kyouei sakumotsu. I'll add it to my list of about 20 Japanese words! Since that 2005 post I've visted some natural agriculture farms in Japan and saw a little that confirms Helenjp's comments. A common combination seems to be winter wheat followed by edamame/daizu; one farmer said this mix left no need for fertilser nor fallow period. The total length of the roots of one wheat plant is apparently several thousand kilometres! A very fine mesh of roots that is very good for the soil.

Hmm, my sansho was sown in September 2005 and emerged 8 months later! Those outside (3 germinated) are about 1cm tall but healthy green; those brought into the greenhouse to germinate are taller (7cm) and with more leaves, but when transplanted outside leaves appear to have been scorched by the sun. Too early to say if these will grow into a tree. Large (1 mb+) picture at Sansho germinated outside

Fully agree with those comments on Bill's, it's one very rare place. The chef, Andy (not Andy L) deserves recognition for being adventurus, always ready with ideas and serving up fantastic food that never fails to delight & enthrall every human sense, yet at pub prices. One reason it's always an enjoyable experience browsing, buying veg or dining, is that the staff are always happy and are always dashing around working and looking after customers (doesn't happen everywhere...). Best of all, Bill goes out of his way to support local growers, even new start-ups, and over the years this will make a significant difference to the local farming economy, much more so than any government-funded websites and glossy leaflets..... Go try it (Lewes is the best location in my humble biased opinion!)

Hiroyuki you're a star! That is an exciting revelation (to me, anyway ) to see benihana's use in Yamagata. It will take a while to digest that pdf - main link works but takes about 5 minutes to load the full document. Safflower oil is nutritionally similar to olive oil, being high in vitamin E and having the highest ratio of polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acids of any oil available. Polyunsaturated fats are associated with lowering of blood cholesterol. The main fatty acids are the doubly unsaturated linoleic acid (70%) and the triply unsaturated linolenic acid (10%). Among the thousands of varieties of Carthamnus tinctorius grown across the globe, the proportions of linoleic and oleic acid vary considerably. High oleic safflower oils are very stable on heating, and do not give off smoke or smell during frying. In India, non-spiny forms of the plant have been developed to make it easier to pick the flowers (maybe current 'red' flowers are in fact blood-stained?)

Well, I know there is a China forum and an India forum but I really am curious to know just how much the Safflower plant (Carthamnus tinctorius) is used in Japan. I saw a reference to the cooking oil in this thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...820&hl=benibana So how widely is the oil used and what do the Japanese like or not like about it? And whilst we are on this (unusual?) subject, are the bright yellow & red flowers used in Japan for garnish, or perhaps for colouring food or to make a tea? Then what about the young shoots, are these ever seen in vegetable markets?

Just tried some young curled-up leaves with about 3cm of stalk - that's all that's formed so far in this the second & final year of the crop. They were stir-fried in a minute amount of olive oil and so I could taste the 'real veg'. Bitter-sweet. Tasty, but a strong under-current of bitterness at the same time . and thankfully I only had a small quantity to eat. Definitely not in the shiso - mitsuba - sansho league.

Thanks Helenjp, I'll try them out - I've just had an order for a few roots on Wednesday so I'll keep the young leaves. Never seen redish stems, ours are pure white/green (variety is 'Shosaku' from Kaneko). By deduction, shin-gobo must be harvested only a few months into growth during the first year, before the root lengthens. But could you say what month(s) shin-gobo is available Torakris? That would allow me to know if it is spring-planted or autumn-planted seed and whether the weather has any effect on the softness and colour.

What is 'soft gobo'? Is this gobo in it's second year but before flowering? Here in the UK about 3 weeks ago young leaves started forming on the crop sown last summer but not harvested. Secondly, does anyone in Japan eat the young leaves? Look at the 'edible uses' info on this PFAF link

They also have a policy of supporting local producers (unfortunately only large well-established ones at present ) & make a conscious effort to stock local specialities. Also, in my experience the type and regularity of free food samples offered is pretty good, although no comparison to the likes of Kroger in the US (where a free dinner is possible ).

When living in the south of France I ate out 3 or 4 times a week, most weeks - because it was cheap, the food frequently excellent, every location different and not too far from that 'family business' feel that makes us believe the cheque is a well-deserved reward for our hosts' hard work. Another idea (see Hong Kong 'home cooking' earlier) is an extension of the farm shop. Dine and gaze upon on the land which grew or fed your dinner! Difficult in London but a few more restaurants looking onto parks, rivers or canals, or even on the top floors of office blocks would surely pull in punters trying to find something different.

Lack of time, lack of money & cost of getting to London from outside. Return train fare from Lewes or Brighton is now £32 & driving with parking even more expensive. Not being a chef or critic I don't generally have much to contribute. But I can offer this inside information(!): JETRO (Japan Export Trade Organisation) have two full-time staff recently-arrived (one from MAFF) at there Holburn offices dedicated to promoting Japanese food in the UK. They have just completed a survey of some 400 London Japanese restaurants & noted that the choice of food is usually pretty dire. The Japanese government is launching a big campaign to promote Japanese food abroad. Personally I hope we'll see a more imaginative & wider use of the amazing flavours and textures of many Japanese ingredients. That's already happening at Bill's Produce store & cafe in Brighton & Lewes (soon to arrive in London I hear).

I too have had it, I see it mostly mixed in with rice. It wasn't bad but not worth searching for... ← I'd agree with those comments. The taste may be nothing special but believe me the effort in harvesting compared to digging down for the root counts for a lot! For me a better use is for planting to make a new crop (I think the wait will be 2 to 3 years!). These last few weeks I found many wild yama-imo tubercles in Saitama and also a smaller, rounder, green version on a climbing plant growing in the same location- would anyone know what these may be?

I think there is a shift but only by the more affluent. Farmer`s markets seem to be growing and growing here in south-east England but in my experience (a) produce is usually more expensive than supermarkets (or at least is perceived to be); (b) one day a month (possibly some are weekly) is not as convenient as dawn to mid-night opening hours; © parking is rarely free as it is in supermarkets. If the UK can produce more fresh meat, fruit and vegetables at prices to compete with imports, then for sure I believe we will see a shift to the market type shopping seen in Paris suburbs.

Yokohama! I was talking to someone today from Yokohama, she said it was a port by the sea (sorry if that`s not the decription you would choose). Good to hear you are growing delicous food even in the town - it seems to be a feature of Japan to grow everywhere. Seiun brewery in Ogawa make an excellent sake called shizenshu, with organically farmed rice from the farm that I`m working with and their own underground water supply. Unusual consistency. Labels are on the local paper for which the town is re-knowned. Lots of old stone lattern-type statues at road junctions and elsewhere, excuse my ignorance for not yet knowing what these are, still learning here. Kites and crows in the skies, white egrets (? like a small heron), herons and kingfishers in the rivers. A musical siren at mid-day to tell folks it`s time for gohan and a similar musical rhyme at 16.00 to tell children the skies are red and it`s time to head home. In Ogawa on business until December 3rd, let me if you`re up this way.

Arrived here in Ogawa a week ago, visited the town hall today and was advised that Saitama is the leading producer of broccoli in Japan! Subsequently found this link: http://www.pref.saitama.lg.jp/A06/BA00/sai...ma-e/index.html My impression is of a quiet and unspoilt countryside and lots and lots of small-scale vegetable growing. Rice harvest has just finished and in many places is still dried traditionally, hung from poles in the fields. Satsuma-imo (sweet potato) have been dug up and stored to beat the frosts; wheat sowing just completed; daizu (soybean) harvest in a few days. An excellent sake brewery and restaurant here in Ogawa. Some good hill walking among the surrounding forests.

I'm curious to know how much (if at all) you folks rate the Japanese vegetables served up in London restaurants. The chef at a Brighton restaurant told me most of his customers leave the veg. Shiso, daikon & edamame are quite widely used but what about shungiku, mitsuba and gobo for example? How many people in England know (or care about) the real taste of freshly picked Japanese vegetables? My knowledge as a restaurant diner is almost nil and my own opinion is naturally biased because I'm growing the vegetables, hence my question to you. As an aside, learnt yesterday about 'taro-no-me' - the shoots of this shrub are apparently becoming fashionable in Japan....

Thanks Helen, Dave. Glad to know I wasn't imagining it. Also, that ties in: kabu harvested from under fleece tasted excellent, although I have no un-fleeced crop to compare it with. Daikon in the open was harvested & tasted excellent, although a few hole-borers were present; I have a crop under fleece due to be harvested in a few weeks & will try and detect differences (if any). Has any scientific work been done to establish exactly what the plant is doing and what substances are being produced?

Flavour Enhanced by Fighting Disease? Do you folks re-call recent articles on this subject? I'm sure it's not a new theory. Today I had the proof - a crop of Mizuna grown under fleece has near-perfect appearance but poor flavour (very mild). The same seeds planted in the open were attacked severely by flea beetle and are full of holes, but have nevertheless grown well. Crucially, the flavour is absolutely outstanding. I would be very interested to hear comments on this. Robin.

Neko01, Shiso grows here in Sussex, UK - same latitude as you but milder winters as we are near the sea. You should be able to grow on a window cill or possibly on your balcony. Beware Shiso seed has only a 1-year viability. We have found germination takes 14 days in a cool greenhouse and the green shiso grows better than the red. Good luck!