PROJECT Chrysanthemum

Nov 19, 2021 | Autumn, Kitchen PROJECTS, Tabletop

 Chrysanthemums ・  菊   Kiku
To eat … To use as a motif

This Kitchen PROJECT is about CHRYSANTHEMUMS, to eat and to use as a motif in designing your autumnal menu.

I have created a reference sheet regarding EDIBLE VARIETIES of chrysanthemums. If you can source fresh, edible flowers try making KIKU NAMASU, sweet-and-sour pickled petals (yellow and/or purple). These can be enjoyed on their own, as a garnish for grilled or fried foods, or be paired with other vegetables, such as this Cucumber and Chrysanthemum salad or Enoki Mushroom and Chrysanthemum salad. No dressing required for either.

If you toss the pickled petals with cooked rice it becomes “chrysanthemum sushi” — the sweet-and-sour pickling liquid that clings to the petals seasons the rice. Add some toasted sesame seeds and shredded shiso leaves to the chrysanthemum sushi rice for added texture and color. Make the chrysanthemum sushi rice a base for chirashi-zushi; top with soy-simmered shiitaké mushrooms and ribbons of omelet. The same thin omelet can be folded, snipped and rolled to resemble a chrysanthemum to decorate the sushi, or be tucked into an obento.

If you own, or can source, a rice mold shaped like a chrysanthemum (above photo) press out a flower shape on your plate and add pickled petals at the center to mimic the pistal.

Or, shape the rice into logs. You could stuff these logs into inari pouches if you like, or serve them as is, stacked.

If you can’t source fresh chrysanthemums use decorative knife skills to carve white turnips into chrysanthemum flowers. A combination of techniques (salt-wilting and marinating in a sweet-and-sour brine) will flavorthe turnips. Natural food dyes – gardenia pods and red shiso leaves – tint the turnip-flowers yellow and purple, respectively. These piquant turnips most often garnish platters of grilled fish or meat. Download full instructions for Three-Colored Turnip Flowers

Small Plates

Small Plates

MAMÉ-ZARA   豆皿  (Small Plates) One of the distinctive features of Japanese food arrangement is the use of many small plates and bowls in serving a meal. These vessels are typically varied in appearance (color, shape, design) and generally hold small portions of food...

Seasonal Word Play

Seasonal Word Play

In Japanese, the words for martial spirit (shōbu, 尚武), victory (shōbu, 勝負), and a reed that is a botanical relative of the iris flower (shōbu 菖蒲) make a fortuitous pun. Throughout Japan, during Golden Week, fragrant bunches of shōbu (iris reeds), are sold in...

New Beginings

New Beginings

In Japan, April is the time for new beginnings -- the start of a new school year, a new fiscal year, and changes to many established programs on TV, radio and other media outlets. In tune with this custom, I've made some changes at A Taste of Culture this month. I...

PROJECT Springtime Sweets

PROJECT Springtime Sweets

洋菓子・yōgashiWestern-Style Confectionery Japan's food culture includes ingredients, techniques and dishes that have been adopted and/or adapted from non-Japanese sources.  One large category is confectionery. Earliest influences were from the Portuguese in the 16th...

Recent Posts & Projects