It was on my 1st day at work when TV programme filming took placed here in Michonoeki Aso！Have you heard of TV programme Wakatto Land which is Kumamoto TV channel(TKU) broadcasted on every Saturday at 1630hr to 1725hr and hosted by Mr.Takamura Kouhei.
This is his 3rd visit in Aso finding seasonal item here in Aso and using that ingredient to cook them using hotplate on his hotplate journey (HPJ) cooking.
And so, what was the seasonal item he picked in Aso to introduce it on his upcoming show? Did you guess it right? Well that’s Japanese mustard green which is Takana (Taka means high while na means leaf or green) in Japanese. Aso Japanese mustard green are grew in Aso Highlands and requires enduring in severe cold winter to grow the stem of the vegetable. These mustard greens have a sharp salty taste and it is known with the Japanese that it makes one feel Spring is coming. Seed sowing usually takes place from end October and harvesting takes place around end February and fresh Japanese mustard green are sold only in a short period of time in March and these huge Japanese mustard green are currently sold in Michinoeki Aso, so don’t hesitate to get them if you do drop by!
Japanese mustard greens are mostly eaten in pickled mustard greens; you can eat it hot or cold, alone or as a small side dish accompanying with rice, as a topping for ramen or rice porridge, or as part of a veggie stir-fry too. Picture enclosed below are new pickles (left picture, fresh green color) which is called 「新漬け」“shindzuke” while older ones which can be kept almost a year(right picture, mustard yellow color) are called 「古漬け」“furudzuke”.
Now back to Mr.Takamura Kouhei filming – with Japanese mustard green using hotplate; he came up with the idea cooking chijimi which is known as spicy pancakes originally from Korean and slightly similar to Japanese okonomiyaki but in a thinner form. Ingredients used apart from Japanese mustard greens were bacons, eggs and chijimi set and check out the pictures as enclosed; looks drooling and taste indeed delicious!
Lastly, if you are residing in Kumamoto, don’t forget to check out his TV programme on Air this Saturday, 7th Mar 2020 at 1630hr.
Website: https://www.tku.co.jp/wakatto/
Hope you enjoy reading the above information and would be lovely if you could also share this information to your friends around who maybe interested to know.
Thank you for taking time to read them and stay tune to our next blog entry.
Yoshimi
