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dorchadas
I love Japanese mushrooms. In Chiyoda, there's a farmer's market at the bus station where local farmers would drop off their products to sell. A lot of it was vegetables and fruit, of course, but there was a wider variety available than that. Sometimes there was wild boar, like at the last Tondo Festival we went to where a farmer who had shot a wild boar in his fields brought the meat in to the festival, or ducks, or eggs. There were baked goods and ready-made bentō. And, there were mushrooms.
Living in America now, a lot of those mushrooms just aren't economical to buy. Maitake that costs $15 a pound--or much more--here was about half that price in Japan, and while enokitake didn't have nearly as dramatic a price difference, they were still cheaper. We'd buy them in handfuls and put them on everything, soups, pasta, sautéed and thrown on chicken or beef, anything we wanted. But they're just too expensive here to justify it.
There's a website (in Japanese) for that bus station here. The farmer's market page is here.
I kept reading this as "enotake." I'm not sure why.
Dear reader, I expect you've heard of umami, the fifth flavor. Well, I have to tell you that I hate that name. I accept its use as a credit to Ikeda Kikunae's discovery of it, but umami just means "deliciousness," without the written distinction present in Japanese (うま味 the taste vs. 旨味 the food quality). In addition, we already have a word in English that describes the flavor and fits the S-front scheme that tastes already have. Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, savory.
That said, I'll happily describe this chocolate as umami and that's what makes it stand out. There was a depth to the flavors that chocolate doesn't often have, something else mixed in with the usual Raaka taste. Mirin and konbu dashi, with some shiitake as well for extra umami. None of these were discernible as separate flavors, they just worked to enhance the chocolate.
This was Chocolate 2.0. Better. Stronger. More delicious. I hope Raaka puts this into general production, because I would buy it by the pound.
Looks a little melted...
schoolpsychnerd's Opinion
Maybe we'll splurge and buy some enokitake today when we go shopping. It's a cloudy day, but hijiki chicken with enoki on top? That sounds nice and warming...
Living in America now, a lot of those mushrooms just aren't economical to buy. Maitake that costs $15 a pound--or much more--here was about half that price in Japan, and while enokitake didn't have nearly as dramatic a price difference, they were still cheaper. We'd buy them in handfuls and put them on everything, soups, pasta, sautéed and thrown on chicken or beef, anything we wanted. But they're just too expensive here to justify it.
There's a website (in Japanese) for that bus station here. The farmer's market page is here.
I kept reading this as "enotake." I'm not sure why.
Dear reader, I expect you've heard of umami, the fifth flavor. Well, I have to tell you that I hate that name. I accept its use as a credit to Ikeda Kikunae's discovery of it, but umami just means "deliciousness," without the written distinction present in Japanese (うま味 the taste vs. 旨味 the food quality). In addition, we already have a word in English that describes the flavor and fits the S-front scheme that tastes already have. Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, savory.
That said, I'll happily describe this chocolate as umami and that's what makes it stand out. There was a depth to the flavors that chocolate doesn't often have, something else mixed in with the usual Raaka taste. Mirin and konbu dashi, with some shiitake as well for extra umami. None of these were discernible as separate flavors, they just worked to enhance the chocolate.
This was Chocolate 2.0. Better. Stronger. More delicious. I hope Raaka puts this into general production, because I would buy it by the pound.
Looks a little melted...
schoolpsychnerd's OpinionWhy is this bar eaten? Why is there not more of it? Because I could eat this everyday and found myself very sad when it was done. I tend not to think of enoki as having strong flavor compared to other mushrooms but when paired with the lightest touch of dashi, it added depth and just a dash of salt to delicious chocolate. Why am I not sitting on a mountain of these laughing like an empress?Because there wouldn't be a mountain because I would eat them all!
Maybe we'll splurge and buy some enokitake today when we go shopping. It's a cloudy day, but hijiki chicken with enoki on top? That sounds nice and warming...
no subject
Date: 2017-Oct-22, Sunday 21:32 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-Oct-23, Monday 03:01 (UTC)It's not as out there as something like chocolate with pine oil.