Junsai ✦

Junsai

What it is

The jelly is not added — it is the mucilage the plant sheathes its own unopened bud in, and it lies thickest on the smallest buds, so the grade runs downward as the bud grows rather than up. Nearly all of Japan's crop comes from the ponds of Mitane in Akita, taken one bud at a time by hand from a flat-bottomed boat.

In the kitchen

Ten seconds in boiling water, then straight into iced water; any longer and the jelly slides off and leaves you a bare stalk. Serve it cold in a vinegared broth — a hot dish melts away the entire point of it.

Goes with

Kombu Rice vinegar Wasabi Myoga Cucumber Gilt-head bream Yuzu Shiso

In season alongside

Brousse du Rove Cucumber Grayling Lettuce Pattypan squash Striped jack (shima-aji)

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