Japanese Fuki and Butterbur in Spring Cuisine · The Japanese Canon

I

Origin

Japan — fuki grows wild throughout Japan; cultivation and use in cuisine documented from Heian period; fuki no tō (the bud) is particularly celebrated in haiku as a kigo (seasonal word) for early spring

II

Description

Fuki (蕗 — Petasites japonicus, Japanese butterbur) is one of the defining flavours of Japanese spring, with a distinctive bitterness and aromatic quality that has no Western equivalent. The plant is large — stems can reach 1–2m in the wild — and is harvested in early spring from riverside and mountain areas. The stems (fuki) are the primary culinary part; the large leaves can be used as natural wrapping for foods. Fuki requires specific preparation before use: (1) blanching briefly in salted boiling water; (2) rapid cooling in cold water; (3) peeling the fibrous outer skin by grasping at the end and pulling — this must be done while still warm, as the skin becomes harder to remove when cold. The characteristic bitterness of fuki (from alkaloids and chlorogenic acid) is the point — it is an essential contrast flavour in spring Japanese cuisine, representing the first assertive, green, slightly medicinal taste after winter's comfort foods. Fuki is used in kinpira-style stir-fry, in nikujaga-style simmered dishes, in miso soup, and as a supporting ingredient in takenoko and sansai preparations. The young buds (fuki no tō) are even more intensely flavoured and are used as a sansai tempura ingredient.

III

The Thread

—Both fuki and cime di rapa are bitter spring greens whose bitterness is the valued quality; both require blanching to modulate the bitterness to the correct level Italian

—Both dandelion and fuki are spring wild plants with bitterness valued as a seasonal quality; both have traditional associations with digestive and health properties French

—Both Japanese and Korean spring cuisine features blanched-and-dressed bitter wild greens as an essential seasonal category; the preparation methods are closely analogous Korean

IV

Flavour Context

Assertively bitter, clean, faintly medicinal-herbal with a green, spring freshness; after blanching, the bitterness is modulated to a pleasant contrast note; the flavour communicates spring's arrival more powerfully than almost any other ingredient

Pillars V — VII

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