Seasonal Food: Sansai Part I
Spring is also Sansai (山菜) season. Sansai can be literally translated as mountain vegetables. It's not necessarily wild as most of it are farmed but they usually have different requirements from other table vegetables and more often than not tend to be seasonal. What sets sansai apart from yasai is the taste. Sansai should taste like spring; clean and fresh. When you enjoy a piece of sansai, it should feel like taking a deep breathe of clear, spring mountain air.
Sansai is not one plant but a collection of seasonal plants. Currently we have fuki no to, taro no me, kogomi and fuki in the restaurant, with more varieties to come soon. Sansai was once exclusive to high end japanese establishments but we are now bringing it to you at an accessible price and location.
Our chef recommends sansai tempura this week as it will preserve the more complex taste of sansai better. By biting through the crispy coccon of the tempura protecting the succulent plant within, you will first get a note of herbaceous mild bitterness with or without a little astringency, but that is soon replaced by sweetness on the tongue as the saltiness of the tempura sauce mixes with the rest of the items in your mouth. Don't rush through the morsels but slowly savour the lingering aromas of a mountain forest.
Fuki is also available as ohitashi which is a dish simmered in dashi stock.
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