Can Spring be far behind? Japanese butterbur scape

Beside COVID-19, news these days here is about record-breaking heavy snow especially in the north region beyond the mountains surrounding Kanto 関東地方. Cold fronts blowing from Siberia crush with these mountains, dump their humidity, aka snow, there, and run down to Kanto area as dry cold winds … It’s freezing in Yokohama. In the morning, all the vegetations in our gardens, parks et al are ice-solid. Good thing from the State of Emergency with limitation for commuting in dead winter is, we can delay the moment of leaving from bed in the morning … even if it’s just a matter of 10 minutes or so.

And there is a tiny delicious secret in Yokohama’s forest in January. This is the season for Japanese butterbur scape. It’s a bud for Fuki (Japanese butterbur, Petasites japonicus), Japanese endemic edible plant. They are fairly common even in the city of Yokohama. They grow along streams where they have not much wind whooshing. It’s a vigorous plant, multiply by rhizomes. Although it’s edible, it has a peculiar harsh taste due to toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid that must be treated before cooking. I mean, as a prep we must boil them with salt, then soak them in running water for several hours. So, these days people do not care them much even when they are readily available in backyard. However! These are the thing when the plant fully opens with its round leaves and standing stalks.

A private field of Fuki in Yokohama in summer.
 These leaves of round-heart and their stalks are all edible.
 But the landlord here, it seems to me,
 does not care much of his/her property.

Just for 1 or two weeks of freezing January, their very new buds poke their head from the ground to be ready for flowering in warmer days expecting soon. They are edible too. Moreover, they do not require elaborate preliminary arrangement to eat. Some enthusiasts eat them row on site. The difficult thing to have them is, finding the right moment to find them. They have such a small window of time for harvesting … Another good thing from the State of Emergency: this year I could check the place without much time constraint as I bear in a regular January. So, this year, BINGO! I’ve found them!

Look, look, look! I’ve found them!

It was so tempting to gather all the visible buds of Fuki from the site. But, but, but, … if I had done so, they would be extinct from the place next year … I thanked the Mother Nature and brought home just a dozen of Japanese butterbur scape. What to make of it? We can simply deep fry and eat them with salt. But that’s the way to have the delight for just one moment. I decided to make butterbur scape miso dip. It can last for at least a week. I can savor the delight of New Year for some time even under the State of Emergency … Here is the recipe for my Japanese butterbur scape miso dip:

My secret place for Japanese butterbur scape.
 Oh, one caution.
 This place is easy to find the safe buds
 with remaining leaves of last year.
 But often, especially when people mow the place in fall,
 it could be difficult to differentiate the buds of butterbur
 from the buds of Scopolia japonica, which is poisonous.
 If the bud has leaves of former year, please check it.
  Scopolia japonica has elongated pointed leaves
 that are totally different from Japanese butterbur.

<Butterbur Scape Miso Dip>

1. Wash the buds, and slice them as you like.

2. Stir fry them with olive oil, but don’t overdo it. When they’re cooked, turn off the heat.

3. Add Kyoto-style white miso paste. For 10-12 buds, 100cc of miso would be enough. Kyoto-style miso is sweet but secretly salty paste, a bit different from more common variety. We can find it in supermarket here in Yokohama. When it’s not available, use the standard miso paste with 1 tbsp of mirin, or with 1 tbsp of sake + 1 tbsp of sugar.

4. Mix miso and buds well, then return the pan to weak heat. Work the mixture over until the dip starts showing a kind of shine, i.e. the sugar in the miso paste is coating the mixture and becoming the glaze. I tell you it won’t take much, maybe within a minute or so. It’s the sign the dip is ready to eat!

Done!

Let’s always look on the bright side of life … and wait for spring to come. It will come for sure, unless the planet earth evaporates, I think.

My breakfast with Japanese butterbur scape dip

If you find environmental issues in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター

657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121
〒243－0121　厚木市七沢657
Phone: 046-248-0323

You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/