Udo

[Earl Hartman]

This is a test for all of you real hard-core Japanese foodies. If you know what udo is, post your favorite recipe. And if you live in the SF Bay Area and know where to get your hands on fresh udo, let me know.

[Dave Lowry]

“Japanese foodies?” You wound with your flippant appellations, sir. These are "epicanthically-inclined epicures" gathered here.

You must be longing for spring in Japan if you’re thinking of udo. Aralia cordata, a member of the ginger family, right? Looks like shoots of fuzzy white asparagus. I bet you’ve had it in miso-shiru, along with asparagus. Just lightly parboil the asparagus tips in the dashi, then add the miso (should be Echigo miso or Shinsu miso) and sliver and scatter the udo raw on top. (You know, though, that once you peel and slice udo, you have to soak it in rice vinegar for a while else it’ll be bitter as the “Who’s doing REAL Daito ryu" controversy raging in a forum above.)

Kyushu folks like udo in gyuniku nimono. Simmer dashi, sake, mirin, and shoyu, then add in slices of beef, soramame, and udo. I'll give exact ingredients if anybody’s interested.

Udo shows up a lot in springtime kaiseki ryori. It’s served as a cold azukebachi course, that part of the meal where you get to lighten up a bit. It’s made in a karashi-zu, or mustard vinegar. About a tsp. of dried karashi mustard along with 1 Tbsp. each of rice vinegar, shoyu, and dashi, and a little sugar. Peel the udo and soak it in vinegar, then chill it. Combine all the karashi-zu ingredients and drizzle them over the sliced udo.

A hot azukebachi dish uses udo with komatsuna that’s almost always served at Taishun, the late, late winter kaiseki. Komatsuna is a sort of turnip-like green that grows all winter in Japan. (And an all-expenses paid trip for two to the next Koga ryu Karnival for the first correspondent here who can tell us why early spring komatsuna is called uguisuna.) Boil the komatsuna leaves quickly, then do the same with peeled, vertically sliced udo, but add some vinegar to the water. Roast sesame seeds, then grind them with just a little dried mustard. Add dashi and a little shoyu enough to make a broth not quite as thick as Jean Claude van Damme’s accent and pour that over the komatsuna and udo.

I hope someone can give you a source for udo around there. An Uwajimaya might have it.

Cordially,

[Neil Yamamoto]

I figured Mr. Lowry would chime in with more than anyone else. :D

Last time I had it was in Japan in some miso and later in a bowl of udon.

When I had it in the udon, it was sauted on high heat in sesame oil briefly and the cook said that took out the bitterness.

Earl, no luck on udo for the Uwajimaya up here. I was just there and bought some manju and ice cream mochi.

[Earl Hartman]

Dave:

I knew I could count on you. But can you write a post that doesn't require a dictionary? And once again, I realize I'm up against a real foodie (oops, "epicure"). I'm not up on my kaiseki stuff.

I always had udo raw, thinly sliced with a sumiso dressing. I've never tried it cooked, but your recipes sound interesting.

My wife makes komatsuna misoshiru all the time. Really good stuff. I will hazard a guess and opine that perhaps the reason spring komtsuna is called "uguisuna" is because the uguisu (nightengale) starts singing in spring and this singing herlads the beginning of the season and coincdies with the time for harvesting the spring komatsuna?

Out here, I know it's spring when the mockingbirds show up and start their annual concert.

[Harold James]

Mr. Lowery forgot to mention how udo is cultivated and so a local source in the Bay area might be hard to come by.

Udo is grown in totally dark places, and that's why it's white. There is no sunlight to activate the chlorophyll. Grown is small cave-like bunkers, or grown out in fields and covered with black plastic to keep the sunlight out. So that if even the Uwajimaya under your local Kinokunia Bookstore has it, it's probably been imported and maybe not so fresh. But who knows, there is a large Asian community there and perhaps you might find it at some local mom&pop store in the middle of Japan town.



Have a nice day.