I had been waiting for a day like this to explore the wood nearby my house.
It is only five minutes driving distance to get there, and now it must be very beautiful with blue bell flowers. I hoped to see the beautiful blue carpet in the wood.
I had another purpose to go there, that was picking ferns called "warabi" in Japanese. These ferns are edible ones, and taste great with grated ginger and soy sauce. One of my friends told me that she found loads of "warabi" kind of ferns there. Although she was not sure about the spieces, it is worth to try!
So, I went to the wood and picked lots and lots of warabi with my sons.
When I was busy picking them, I saw a biology teacher of my school.
She was very skeptical at my comment on the warabi that we Japanese eat them.
"I know some ferns are edible but I don't know if these are or not."
she said.
She is not just a biologist but a specialist of botany.
She should know about plants more, shouldn't she??
But... who cares?
I know what warabi is.
I am not a specialist, but I can at least try.
and... tried them after they are cooked.
Fortunately they were the right kind of ferns, real warabi!!
My husband, who is a German, was not very sure about them, telling me,
"we are poor, but we are not as poor as eating ferns from wood."
"we are not goats."
(goats eat everything!)
All right,
it is ok.
I don't mind.
They taste good.
That is the most important thing for me.
And I have missed this taste for seven years!!
So..., now I know they are real, and I must go back there again to pick more!!
I must let the biology teacher eat them!!!
hahaha
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6 comments:
Warabi! I haven't eaten them for years! It's nice to have with soy sauce, I usually add some wasabi as well.
I didn't know there are edible warabi growing in England. You are lucky to live in such a nice place.
I laughed my head off to see your husband's comment 'we are not goats'....ha ha ha! But waradi is worth trying...My partner is not a great fan of those kind of things and he always says 'mountain vegetable again! that's why japanese people are crazy!'...how rude he is...lol
So, you enjoyed warabi? I might go and try to find them in the forest nearby!
Hello, Anima,
according to my friend, macrobiotic diet people eat warabi in England as well. So I guess there are a lot more warabis growing in England than I thought.
Also there are warabis all over the woods, since people rarely harvest them.
Wow! They will be all mine!
hahaha
Today one of my friends, who is Israeli, tried the warabi cooked in Korean style sauce. He loved it and suggested his wife to go to the woods to pick them.
It is a treasure from nature.
How wonderful!
Hi, chamokayo,
I've never thought there is warabi growing over there. You are lucky:) I love warabi,too. Actually today I had a soup with warabi, bamboo shoot and wakame.
I think it's also nice to have warabi with mayonnaise adding some shredded ham and mustard. Sounds good, doesn't it? I do hope your husband likes this special warabi salad!
Hello, Honesty,
I didn't imagine that warabi is growing in England either.
I pickled in soy sauce and gave this to several friends. They were all happy to have this "Japanese" taste.
After the second trial, I successfully made the texture firm and nice. Then my husband admitted that they actually taste good.
Oh, i had forgotten to eat them with mayo!!
I remember my mother served warabi with mayo, sometimes mayo and soy sauce. Your suggestion of "mayo, ham and mustard" sounds really good. I must go back there and pick some more!!
I happened across your post searching for warabi recipes. I am an American and my wife is Japanese, and we live in Massachusetts, USA. We picked and ate warabi when we lived in Japan, and we continue to do so here in America. Here, nobody really picks warabi so there is an overabundance available for us to pick just a short walk from our house. Tonight, nearing the end of the warabi season, we picked about a kilogram of the stuff. We usually blanch it with some baking soda, then eat it with a dressing mentsu-yu, shichimi, and wasabi, topped with katsuobushi shavings. We're attempting to preserve what we picked today with salt so that we can eat it later this year when we can't pick it outside.
Be glad the Brits don't know that it it's edible- more for you!
Hello, Anonymous,
thanks for your comment.
I am pleased to hear that you like warabi. Here in England the situation is the same as in the US. Nobody picks warabi, except for myself, so I have more than I can eat. I went to the wood three times this year, and I picked a bag-full of warabi each time. Of course it was more than my family can consume before they go bad. So I gave away many jars of warabi pickeled in soy sauce. I am so glad that I have many Japanese friends around.
This time I tried warabi pickles which is just like Western style pickles with pepper, herbs and vinegar. It is totally non-Japanese taste, and is quite good. I think you would like it with sandwiches or burgers. If you still need to find the way to preserve warabi, try to pickle them!
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