Simple, Satisfying Tokyo Kabu

Sometimes it's hard to work up the energy to cook in this muggy weather, and I often lose my appetite. The stress of the pandemic fallout puts me off meals. So I resolved to experiment with foods I haven't tried, and cook at least two meals a day.

I often crave veggies, and this week, I longed for broccoli to make pasta salad. But alas, broccoli is expensive now - a small head is 200 yen at my local.

I spied these Tokyo kabu, small ivory orbs with profuse greens, for 100 yen. They're in season now.

Being raised by Scottish people, "neeps and tatties", boiled turnips or swedes (there has been a controversy about which is which) and potatoes boiled to remove all flavor, mashed and tepid, was all I knew of root vegetables.

Determined to break free of my ancestral culinary criminal treatment of root vegetables, I settled on a simple and satisfying recipe that has some washoku elements.

I cut the greens off, blanched them for a minute in boiling water, drained and squeezed them the same way you treat spinach in dishes like horensou gomaae, steamed spinach with sesame dressing.

The pearly round kabu I cut into wedges, pan fried until the edges browned, with oil and seasoned with pepper and soy sauce. I added the greens and stir fried them for one more minute.

The result is juicy and sweet with a little bite. I ate half of them hot as a side with dinner, and the next day, they were just as good cold out of the fridge.

Next week, I'll try another local vegetable I have yet to attempt in my kitchen.