WabiSabicious

Sunday Antique Market at the Buddhist Temple - It's typical in Japan that antique markets are held in Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines in weekends. Variety of things are sold at the markets: ceramics, lacquered wood carvings, kimonos / fabrics, calligraphy goods, religious sculptures, and etc... Today, I went to one of them at Arai Yakushi in Tokyo. This Buddhist temple has an antique market every 1st Sunday of the month. And, May sure is one of the best month to enjoy such event while enjoying mild spring weather.

This temple has a water well that is open to public. The water can be consumed for drinking. Here are some photos I took at the market. I didn't take much detailed photos of each booth, since to respect shopkeepers for not bothering their business by my paparazi-like attitude. But still, hope this informs the brief picture of how the Japanese antique markets look like, especially if you have never gone.

Memory from last winter (pt.2) - Yurine. Yurine is root of lily. Yes, lily as the flower, and Japanese eat it's root. Yurine is most popularly known among Japanese as one of the assorted ingredients contained in chawanmushi which is steamed egg custard. What on the above picture is simply boiled with salted water, and crushed pickled plum(umeboshi) is set aside as condiment.

Texture of cooked yurine resembles to potato. More precisely, you feel it somewhat smoother than potato in your mouth once you bite. Cooked yurine does not create neither any scent nor rich flavor, but slight sweetness. For me personally, smooth texture is the best part to enjoy this root.

For the black bowl that served yurine, sorry again, I do not have info about where this was made. Based on the black glaze, you can partly see the orange glaze. We call it persimmon glaze that is called ‘kakiyu’ in Japanese (I will explain the variety of glazes used for Japanese pottery in my later posts). This combination of glaze can popularly be seen among Mashiko-ware (however I can’t be sure that this particular one is from Mashiko, such style can also be seen among Tanba-ware and etc...). In the very bottom of the bowl around the lower rim, you see unglazed part that "bare roasted clay" is shown. It's in reddish brown color that gives difficulty to distinish from kakiyu with my photos (sorry for the poor quality photos.... I have to learn photography...). Orange parts seen inside of the lower rim and around the top rim are the persimmon glaze.

Memory from last winter - grilled kuwai

Kuwai (Threeleaf Arrowhead) is the plant that can easily be found in large part of Asia, Europe, and Americas. However, it’s had less chances of being utilized for the gastronomy. As a gastronomic interpretation of this plant, it’s root is the part to be enjoyed. The texture of kuwai root is somewhere between chestnut and potato once heated, while the taste is somewhat sharper and bitterer. Popular way of cooking it in Japan is peeling the skin off then simmer it in a pot. It is one of the popular assorted treats for New Year’s Day meal (Osechi). Ones on the above photo, I grilled it with leaving the skin on. Skin can also be eaten in this way. Simply sprinkle a pinch of salt on to proceed “bon appetite”.

Not many Japanese eat kuwai except pot-simmerd ones as New Year’s day meal. I discovered the grilling method by a gourmet essay written by a Japanese novelist Tsutomu Mizukami, with his experience as a servant boy at a Buddhist temple in his chilhood. During the time, he prepared meals for the priests in the temple.

Two potteries are used to serve the kuwai and salt. One that kuwai’s are on, sorry, I don’t have much info about this. I have to go back to the store I bought and ask about it… I simply love how the black glaze is sharply splashed on dark brown. This also creates profound gradation of the color transforming from brown to black.