Good morning✨✨
Documentation on Osechi (Japanese new year bento) item🍱
Each item has wishes & meanings, I try to cook to have those points stand out✨
Today introducing “Hana-renkon/花蓮根”-pickled flower shaped lotus roots✨
This has to do with “Kazari-giri /飾り切り”- decorative knife cut technique.
Quick recipe of Hana Renkon (arranged to be easier) & Stories🪷
Hana (flower) Renkon (lotus roots), as its name- we cut to make the lotus roots look like flowers🪷🌼
As you may be familiar, lotus flower is where buddha sits on – already a good luck🪷
And also we can see through the lotus holes- which symbolizes a clear & happy future🔮✨✨
Such a good luck veggie😂🙏✨
The point would be to have sharp knife & know the methods to keep this veggie white with lots of lye.
Amazing how my knife would rust as I cut…!
- Prepare a bowl of water with vinegar. We put the lotus root in it, to keep white.
- Prepare “Amazu/甘酢”- Sweet vinegar syrup. I wrote the recipe around 4 days ago. -Simple, vinegar ＋ salt + sugar.
- Skin lotus root. Place knife between each holes and cut like windmills. Then, turn around, and do the same on the other side- so in the end it would become like flowers. Whenever you have to leave for calls / doorbells etc- place the root back in 1 so colors don’t change.
- Put root in 1, and let it boil until it becomes translucent.
- Let it cool in 2. When cool, cut in pieces, and marinate in the same syrup. Put some dried red peppers, if you like spicy touch. Let the flavor sink in, good in 1 days or so.
仏さまの鎮座される蓮の花、、見通しもですが、素敵な由来に気合が入ります。
一方ふと、おせちって仏教。。？神道。。？と疑問が湧き調べてみると、オリジンは日本神話の年神様に捧げる供物としてのお料理で、そのうち各地の風習や武家作法も加わり、戦後は大衆文化＆マーケティングの影響で今日のおせちになったそうです（大まか）📚日本のおおらかさもまた好きです。
毎年、ちょうどよいサイズのレンコンをスーパーで吟味してしまいます😳❤️🔥笑
＆作業中にも包丁がサビていくので、サビトールが親友です（錆取り消しゴムのようなもので、本当に簡単でおススメです）。
お刺身等にも合いそうで、来年はケの日にも作ってみようかと思います✨
