The Flavours of Autumn

Did you notice that I neglected autumn in my post about the seasonal flavours of Japan? I enjoy fall foods so much that I thought I would give them a whole post to their lonesome. When I think of autumnal foods, the first things that come to mind are pumpkin, apples, cinnamon, corn on the cob, and traditional Thanksgiving food. In Japan, fall brings with it a whole slew of delicious seasonal treats. There are all sorts of delectable yam, chestnut, and pumpkin goodies. Here are a few sweet snacks in flavours that you can only come across during the fall: 

A maple flavoured version of the normally chocolate biscuit bamboo shoots

A chestnut version of the normally chocolate biscuit mushrooms. These were so good!

A purple yam  and black sesame flavoured version of the normally chocolate biscuit bamboo shoots

Pumpkin pudding Kit Kats

Another food that is representative of autumn in Japan is a thin silver fish called sanma, or Pacific saury. They cost only about 100 yen a fish in this season and are served grilled with grated daikon,  and soy sauce. This fish is one of the numerous reasons that fall is my favourite seasons for food in Japan. It is just so amazingly good! 

This year we had (maybe a new tradition?) a Japanese style autumn feast and of course invited our friends the Oshimas to join us. We barbecued sanma, and made a huge pot of miso soup, steamy rice, and chestnut pumpkin cake for desert. 

Sanma, cut in half and popped on the barbecue. That lone little
pork cutlet was for Dustin, who really only eats fish when
it is absolutely necessary or battered and deep fried. 

Usually sanma is grilled whole, with the head on, and not gutted. Mrs. Oshima wasn't sure the kids would be too fond of that, since the guts are pretty bitter, so she beheaded them, cut them in half, and gutted about half the fish for the boys. I tried one with the guts but found them to be so taste smotheringly bitter that I couldn't enjoy the mild fish flavour at all. I ended up joining the boys eating their gutless ones. Maybe one day I'll learn to eat what the grownups are eating!

A close up of the beauties

All crisp and ready to eat. 

Fish is one of Theo's favourite foods. He really anticipated this meal!

Rosie didn't know what she was missing

But at least she didn't miss out on a good opportunity to have a nap in the cozy arms of Obaasan

Another, not to be forgotten, star of the fall foodscape is the mushroom. Japan in autumn is the place to be for mushroom lovers. There are so many varieties and they so inexpensive that there is no reason no to eat them all the time. I think I could eat them for every meal! 

Mushroom Logs

For my birthday a few weeks ago, Dustin got me the coolest present: two shiitake growing kits! I absolutely love mushrooms, to eat and just in general, so I was pretty excited to get them growing.

Contents of the kit

The kits included a log about 40 cm long that has been seeded with spores, a plastic bin for storing it in while the mushrooms are growing, a plastic bag for keeping in moisture, a plastic wedge for standing up the log, and instructions. The log has circular spots cut out of it in regular intervals where the mushrooms are supposed to sprout from.

First, the log was soaked in ~16° water for 24 hours until it was completely water logged. I then drained the water and propped it up in the white plastic bin and wrapped the whole thing up in a plastic bag to keep in all of the moisture and humidity. It has to be kept at a temperature range between 14° and 22° while the mushrooms are growing. Our bedroom and living room are the only places we heat in our apartment, and outside is far too cold, so I opted for sticking it in our bedroom closet.

After a few days of forgetting about it, I noticed a few little white bumps emerging from some of the circular grooves. In no time at all, they have been swelling to lovely little mushrooms. It should take another week or so before they reach the perfect size, but I amazed at how fast they have been growing!

Mushroom log before soaking

Circular spot "seeded" with spores

Incubator bag

About to sprout

Baby mushrooms!

The great thing about these logs is that mushrooms can be produced multiple times before you have to throw the log away. After each two week mushroom growing cycle, you allow the log to dry out and "rest" for about a month and a half. Then you can soak it again and start over. You can also buy super large 2 meter logs that have been seeded with spores but I am not sure if Dustin would be too happy with me shoving those into our closet!