nihonhacks.com » Fall

Mystery Fruit – The Akebi Part 2

thomas — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:14:13 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the akebi fruit. The akebi is an oval-shaped, purple fruit that grows on a wild vine here in Japan. I had never seen or eaten one before, so I was excited to try it. After patiently waiting for my akebis to ripen, I finally had the opportunity to try it earlier this month. It was quite an interesting experience! (As a side note, about half of the search engine traffic this site receives is from google searches for “akebi fruit”. Who would’ve thought?)

The Akebi

The akebi fruit has a visible seam running from top to bottom on the skin. I read on the internet that the akebi is supposed to pop open at the seam when it is ready to eat. My akebis didn’t pop open. I’m not exactly sure why they didn’t pop, but it’s possible that leaving them in the plastic package had something to do with it. Anyway, after some days I picked the fruit up and they felt soft and mushy to the touch, so I ventured to cut them open myself.

The inside of the akebi is a translucent white sac. The texture reminded me a bit of jello or konnyaku. Inside the white part are dozens of black seeds, similar to watermelon seeds but slightly smaller and softer. You can eat the seeds. The white part is sweet, but not especially fruity.

It wasn’t obvious how to eat the akebi at first. My wife tried to avoid eating the seeds by separating them from the flesh, but had a bit of trouble with it. There were just too many seeds buried in the sticky flesh. I just slurped the seeds down with the fruit and had an easier time with it. Don’t worry about chewing on the seeds. They are small enough to just swallow.

The skin is much too bitter to eat raw, but you can use them in recipes. One way to use the skin is to cut it into bite-sized pieces and fry them in oil for akebi tempura. Here’s another recipe to try. I found it here:

Wash akebi skin well. Scoop out the insides if there are any left.
Make a mixture of 1 teaspoon (小さじ [こさじ]) oil, 1 tablespoon (大さじ [おおさじ]) miso and a little sugar. Pour the mixture into the bowl-shaped akebi skins.
Heat 5 tablespoons (大さじ [おおさじ]) cooking oil in a frying pan. Add akebi skins, cover and cook over low heat until the skins become soft.
Eat!
Optionally, for a heartier meal, before cooking you can stuff the skins with a finely chopped mixture of kinoko mushrooms, shiso leaves, fried tofu and ground/minced meat. Go easy on the shiso leaves though, as they have a very strong flavor.

Enjoy! Have you ever eaten akebi? I’d like to hear about your impressions. Leave me a comment!

Newly Harvested Rice – Shinmai

thomas — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:33:52 +0000

It’s now October and the temperature has started to drop on the islands. Fall is finally here! One of the great things about Fall, other than the cool weather and falling leaves, is that it is rice harvest season. If you live in a rural area you might have seen this harvesting firsthand [edit: or even harvested it yourself!]. Harvest time is a really exciting time. After a year of waiting, we can finally eat shinmai again!

Shinmai (新米 [しんまい]) quite literally means “new rice”. The Japanese harvest their rice in September and October, and a portion of that rice is sent to market right away. There’s something really special about shinmai. It’s soft, smells wonderful and has a hint of sweetness (after you cook it that is). It really is a step above “regular” rice. In the countryside it is quite common to receive new rice as a gift from your neighbors. If you live in an urban area I recommend you go to your local store right away and buy a bag. Look for a sticker that says 新米. Stores may also put the shinmai sticker on boxed lunches (弁当 [べんとう]) that were made with new rice.

Look, it’s yesterday’s date! It doesn’t get much fresher than this.

Mystery Fruit – The Akebi Part 1

thomas — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 17:08:43 +0000

One of the great things about living in or visiting a foreign country is that you get to try all sorts of foods that you’ve never tasted before. Sometimes a new flavor will become one of your favorites (miso soup!). Other times you’d rather avoid tasting the new food again if you can help it (katsuo-bushi for me). I’ve been here for awhile and I still discover new things at the grocery store. There are so many opportunities for new experiences here in Japan.

I have a sweet tooth, so new fruit is among my favorite things to try. The baby-orange biwa and the onion-shaped maroon ichijiku are two of my favorite discoveries (they’ll get write-ups soon enough, don’t worry). As long as they are not unreasonably expensive, I will usually grab new fruits up the moment I see them. That’s just what I did when I saw this fellow at the store the other day: the akebi.

The akebi (あけび) is the purple fruit of a wild akebia vine that grows on Honshu and Kyushu. It feels soft to the touch. It’s shape is roughly that of what you’d get if you tried to smush an apple into a banana-shape but gave up about halfway. The part you want to eat is the sweet whitish inside, although I’ve read that the purple skin and black seeds are also edible. For many Japanese, the appearance of the akebi fruit is a symbol that Autumn has finally arrived.

I haven’t actually eaten it yet, so I have no idea what it tastes like. When I got my akebi home, I looked it up on the internet to see how to eat it. Apparently, when you buy it in the store it isn’t all the way ripe yet. You’ll know when your akebi is ready to eat though, as it is supposed to pop open like a little Pac-Man mouth. Mine hasn’t popped open yet. I bought it last week, so I’m chomping at the bit. I hope I can chomp into my akebi soon!

Akebi Part 2

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