Sakura Soup Japanese Vegan 桜スープ

日本語のレシピはビーガン情報サイト、”Hachidory " で　ご覧ください。

It is the best season of the year !

Everything is sprouting !

The greens and the colorful tiny wild flowers captivate my heart once I go out.

  Ohinunofuguri

 

 
Hotokenoza / Buddah sitting on the cushion, named from its looks.  

 

Hakobe,  very tiny and sweet, yet very poweful  flowers

 

Kakidoshi, I like to drink this as tea.  It is said effective for diabetes.

It is an awesome feeling to feel the warm sunshine on my back and the breath of the spring in the air!

 

Sakura, cherry blossoms have started blooming earlier this year. 

Sakura is not always pink.  This is white sakura. 

I think they will be fully blooming in a week time.

 

Life of Sakura is not long, it is only one to two weeks.

Therefore, you have to leave yourself to luck when you plan to visit Japan to enjoy Sakura in the spring, unless you are ready to move to northern places to catch the timing of the blooming. 
 

Japan is a long island, so there’s more than one-month gap between the most southern part and the northern part.

Even if you missed the timing in Tokyo for example, most likely you can still see sakura fully blooming in Sendai or Hokkaido. 

 

Today I want you to enjoy the Japanese spring with your eyes first before going to the recipe of one of them.

For all the dishes, I am using preserved sakura blossoms.

This is my hand made preserved blossoms that I made last year using the sakura called "Yaezakura" which is more suitable for cooking purpose as it has lots of petals and its color is more pink than other types of sakura.

You can purchase them from the shops.   ( I am pasting the link in the receipe.)

I am serving you from the dessert...

 

Sakura shaped agar agar jelly

Sakuramohi,  most popular Japanese spring sweets

This is another version of  "Sakuramohi", 

pupular in the western part of Japan.

Sakura dango

Umegaemochi 

Here are the savory dishes...

Spring Sushi Rice

Soup with sea vegetable to accompany sushi rice

Spring fresh vegetable salad

 

I selected the second easiest recipe for you to try.

So scroll down to get it !

 

 

Sakura and Japanese Turnip Soup

This soup is very light to make it suitable for the spring season.

But the umami is there which are extracted from good quality of kombu/sea kelp, and also from  fresh, organic and energetic vegetables.

The onion is water sautéed without using any oil.

 

If you found it tastes too bland, add other seasoning to suit your taste.

Ingredients (for two servings)

10 pieces preserved sakura blossoms

2 Japanese turnips

Japanese turnip leaves from one turnip

1 small onion

1/2 tsp salt

500ml kobudashi (sea kelp soup stock) or

1/2 packet of ready-made concentrated liquid kombu bouillon

(the photo shown in the Tips) + 500ml water

Procedure

1.  Wash and soak the preserved sakura blossoms in the water
     for 5minutes to remove the salt.  Drain.

2.  Blanch the turnip leaves in the boiling water, take out to

     the cold water.  Drain and cut into small pieces.

3.  Slice the turnips into sticks.

4.  Chop the onion into small pieces, and then sauté with two

     table spoons of water for five minute or so over low flame.

5.  Add kobudashi and sliced turnip, heat up. 

     Remove the scum when it reached the boiling point.   

     Cover the lid, reduce the heat to low and cook till the turnips

     get soft.

6.  Season with salt and tranfer to the serving bowl.

7.  Garnish with sakura blossoms and turnip leaves.

Tips

＊The preserved sakura blossoms are coated with lots of salt.

＊Choose sakura blossoms without any coloring nor artificial

   preservatives.

＊You can buy them from the bakery ingredients shop or online shop.

＊Japanese turnip looks like this.  It can be replaced with

   other subtle color vegetables if it is not available.

＊Below picture is the ready-made kombu buijon that I stock

   for quick cooking.　You can purchase it from the natural

   food shop or order on line.

 

Happy Cooking !

 

タグ：玉ねぎ 桜花 Japanese vegan 桜寒天 桜スープ 桜 ビーガン preserved cherry blossoms マクロビオティック sakura macrobiotics 桜ちらし寿司 春の料理 カブ Japanese Spring Cherry Blossoms 桜のお吸い物 桜もち