Zenmai (royal fern, dried) ✦

Osmonde du Japon séchée (zenmai)

What it is

Zenmai is not simply dried: it is boiled, then rubbed by hand between the palms every few hours while it lies in the sun, over three or four days, which breaks the fibres and turns the shoots black and pliant. In Tōhoku and Niigata it was long a cash crop, and the season of rubbing was paid work that occupied whole households.

In the kitchen

Rehydrate six hours in warm water, then simmer twenty minutes and let it cool in its own liquid before dressing it — the chew softens on the way down, not on the boil. Squeeze it dry before it meets soy sauce, or the seasoning never penetrates.

Goes with

Koikuchi shoyu Hon-mirin Katsuobushi (dried bonito) Toasted sesame oil Sesame Pork

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