４月２５日（水曜日）２０１８
駅前にお住まいのKさんが「うちに蕗（ふき）がたくさん生えているから欲しかったらどうぞ」と言ってくださいました。好奇心満々の私としては「たくさん生えている蕗」が見たくて早速お邪魔させていただきました。お宅の裏に腰ほどもある蕗が青々と群生していました。大きな太い蕗を１０本ほど採らせていただき、半分はいつもお世話になっている友人のH.Nさんへお裾分けすることにし、残りを切って塩をたっぷり振って板擦りし、熱湯で５分ほど茹でた後に氷水に浸けて、皮を剥いたら、きれいな薄緑色の蕗になり下ごしらえが完了。薄めの味で煮付け、葉は刻んでオリーブ油で炒めて濃い目の味付けにし、最後にごま油を振りかけて出来上がり。お料理上手なご近所のIおば様にちりめん山椒をいただいたので、夕食はやさしい春の味覚を堪能しました。Mrs. K. who lives near the station kindly offered me "If you like butterbur, come to pick some in my back yard because we have tons of them." I was excited and curious to look at tons of butterbur, so I went to her house. In her back yard, about one yard tall butterburs were growing together. It was amazing! All were so green and lively. I took about ten of them. After bringing them back to my home, I (1) Cut and boiled them with salt, (2) Put them into iced water, (3)Peeled the skin off. They turned a light green color and were ready to cook. I cooked the stalk part and lightly seasoned it. I also stir-fried the leaves with olive oil and put soy sauce, sake, mirin and sesame oil after boiling and cutting them. Boiled, dried baby sardines with Chinese pepper are from Mrs. I., my neighbour. I enjoyed these dishes which were a taste of spring.
