Mountain vegetables: taranome

Taranome is a mountain vegetable available to buy in Japan in spring. Like many other Japanese mountain vegetables (sansai), it is somewhat bitter. The Japanese almost always use it to make tempura; but not being much into deep frying, I instead tried my own recipe, lightly picking the taranome and serving it in the standard way for Japanese pickles (tsukemono): on the side, accompanying rice.

Ingredients:
taranome
salt
Pickling sauce:
soy sauce
vinegar
chili powder

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If you don't live in Japan, you may not be able to buy taranome. Try this recipe with any vegetable you want. Back in the West, I'd probably use a green vegetable like broccoli or asparagus, not because they taste like taranome, but because they're crunchy.

The ingredients been left quite vague for a good reason: I never measure quantities. My goal here was to create a full-bodied sauce with a little acidity and a very slight kick from the chili. A little sweetness counteracts the bitterness of the vegetable. You only need enough sauce to coat the taranome.

For this recipe, I used a blend of three different types of soy sauce: shiro (white), amakuchi and sashimi soy sauce. Overall, this creates a more balanced and better controlled flavor. If a large variety of soy sauce is not available where you live, or you don't tend to keep several types at once, buy one that's not very salty and is quite sweet.

For vinegar, don't use white and don't use anything too powerful. A fruit vinegar is perfect.

A mild, slightly smoky chili powder works well. You can substitute black pepper.

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Preparation:
Pull any old leaves off the taranome, cut the base off the sprouts and rinse.
Cooking:
Simmer the taranome in lightly salted water until just about cooked through. Don't let them go too soft. Immeditaly plunge into cold water. This will stop the vegetables from continuing to cook, helping to retain their color and texture.
Sauce:
Mix the soy sauce, vinegar and chili powder in a serving bowl.
Serving:
Transfer the taranome into the serving bowl containing the sauce. Mix. Allow to stand for 15 minutes or so then serve.

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Please note that the above, especially for the pickling sauce, is just how I chose to make it. These aren't requirements and this is not a traditional recipe. If you want a different effect, modify your ingredients accordingly.