The Last Dish of Spring: Cooking Japanese butterbur

 

Now the flowering season of spring ephemeral is over. Day by day, gardens, parks, forests, etc. are covered more and more with green leaves. The colors of leaves started from pale green, then become darker. We’re entering the season of mowing. We keep crossing our fingers for this summer not being so harsh as the last year … We could avoid perils of heat shocks during forestry work, couldn’t we? Well, before walking into the inferno, we have a small pleasure in a prep of scything. We harvest butterbur.

Minois dryas

Butterbur, Petasites japonicus or Fuki in Japanese, is herbaceous plant native to Japan. Sometimes farmers nurture them for their business. And we can find wild Fuki in forests around us. It loves sunny, wet, and less windy margins of forest. They multiply through its underground stem, just like bamboos. From the rhizome, green stems shoot out and at the top is a heart-shaped large leaf. Kids can play with the leaves, making face masks or umbrellas of forest. In our climate of Kanagawa Prefecture, fuki won’t grow much tall nor with larger leaves compared with those in more northern areas of Japan. Still, in Yokohama they can be 50cm or so tall and with approx. 30cm in diameter leaves. As long as the condition is met, they dominate the field as “weed.” So, in Niiharu Citizen Forest we mow them at the end of spring to control their spread. Never mind. They will cover the ground again before winter. Oh, one more thing before cutting hard. We have to harvest them for our spring dish.

Fuki is covering completely the ground.

Yeah. Young fuki is edible. Professional farmers of colder climate distribute them for supermarkets as spring delicacy. Theirs can have 1m long with Ø1cm or more of stems. The way to cook them is similar to angelica. We peel the skin of it before cooking and stew in soy sauce, et al ... a bit cumbersome process. In Yokohama, we won’t expect that size from our fuki. Actually, it’s easier to cook Yokohama size. Let me tell you how.

Harvested fuki

First, we cut off the leaves from harvested fuki. In this recipe, we need a certain amount of fuki stems. They will be mowed as weed before long. i.e. Be greedy to have as much stem as possible! Several regional cuisines cook the leaves as well. I once tried it, and found they gave us an “acquired taste of bitterness.” Also, rhizome and roots of fuki are poisonous. Please be careful. In this post, I tell you about an easier dish with stems only.

Lots of stems

Next, cut the stems in 1 inch or so long BEFORE washing. Chopped fuki stems will be washed under running water until the downy hairs covering the surface are rinsed over. They can be removed easily in this way. If you find relatively thick stems, peel their skin. Otherwise, Yokohama-size, Ø0.5cm or so, can be prepared tender without peeling. Don’t worry.

Chopped fuki before washing.
I add salt for rinsing the fuki.
Though, it is not necessary.

By washing, hairs can be removed this much.

Chopped and washed stems are thrown in a pot. Cover with a lid, and heat it over medium heat for 30 to 50 minutes. The stems are steamed with their own moisture. I cooked 400g of fuki stems for 30 minutes. A senior of Niiharu Lovers who every year cooked fuki with this recipe said, “I normally cook 4 kg or more of it.” In her case probably 50 minutes of steaming would be appropriate. After heating, leave and cool the pot overnight with a lid.

Chopped and washed fuki stems

Next morning, add 6 tbspn (for 400g of fuki) of soy sauce, put a lid, and heat the pot until it resumes steaming. When the steam comes out, turn off the burner and leave it cool naturally. In the evening, shake the cooled pot to stir the content, then turn on the heat again until the pot emits the steam. Stop the fire and cool it naturally overnight.

After first steaming

On the third day, add 2 tbspn of sugar, and follow the same routine as above.

Cooled fuki after sugar added

And for the final day, add 5 tbspn of Sake in the same way as for soy sauce and sugar. Let it cool overnight. In the next morning, the dish is done.

Cooled fuki after sake added.
This recipe gives glaze over the veggie when it’s done.

It’s a nice dish for a spring breakfast with steamed rice. Mine was only 400g. The cooked fuki will be eaten up quickly. My Niiharu senior with 4kg of cooked fuki freezes her dish and defrosts necessary amount when she provides it for a family meal. “Oh, it can last for 10 months or so if you wish. But for my family it does not take that much to finish. 😊” Sweet and salty with Umami taste from glutamic acid of soy sauce softens the bitterness of fuki. It’s the end of spring treat. When you have a chance, please try.

Good morning!

If you have any questions about Yokohama’s Green Tax and Green Up Plan, please make a contact with

Strategic Planning Division, Green Environment Bureau, City of Yokohama
横浜市みどり環境局戦略企画課

Phone: 045-671-2712
FAX: 045-550-4093 

Email: mk-kikaku@city.yokohama.lg.jp