Autumn #7: Akebi, Strange Fruit / 秋＃７：アケビのあくび

A few days ago, I came across this at a local greengrocer:
この間、八百屋でこれを見かけた：

My first reaction was: what the heck is it? My second, naturally, was: I want to eat it.
最初の印象：いったいなーに？２番目の印象：食べてみたーい！

So I bought one, and asked the name: akebi. Until recently, it was a fruit limited to the northern region of Honshu (Tohoko), but now enjoys the honor of being a commercial crop. Turned out my desire to consume the little thing had to be postponed, however. My newly acquired akebi would not be ripe for a few days yet.　それで、名前を聞いた：アケビです。まだ未熟みたいで、一個買って、熟れるまで待っていた。

Apparently, I would know when it was ripe when it got soft and wrinkly, and kind of looked like it was smirking at me. 柔らかくなるまで待って、結局アケビがちょっとにやにや笑いしている時に熟したことがわかるはずだった。

Today I woke up to discover that my akebi was kind of screwing up its "mouth," as if it were trying to repress a laugh. ほら！今朝私のアケビの「唇」がちょっと笑いそうに歪んでいた。

I didn't have any jokes good enough to get the thing to give me a belly laugh, so instead I used a knife.
笑いそうなアケビでも、口を開けるに私の冗談よりナイフの方は鋭いね。

Nice to meet you, my akebi said. 「どうも」って言いました。

Of course I'm kidding.　もちろん何も言えなかったけど。

I guess the idea is to eat the goop inside, apparently much beloved by Tohoku children...
まず中身を味見。。。

Er... do they not have candy in Tohoku? The white part was sticky and sweet, yes, but the large seeds were quite bitter, and swallowing them whole felt like consuming bb gun pellets.
まあ。。。身が甘くないと言えないけど種より少なくて、種の方はちょー苦い！

Well, I wasn't too disappointed, since the most culinarily valued part of the akebi is its skin, which can be used in savory dishes. 大丈夫、大丈夫。中身より皮が使いたかったからだ。

That's more like it. この皮。


To fill this little guy, I turned to another darling of autumn: the mushroom. In particular, I thought that maitake and shimeji mushrooms would make a good stuffing.
詰めことにキノコでいいんじゃないかなと思って、舞茸とシメジにした。

maitake mushrooms

shimeji mushrooms

 I chopped them up, and added them to the pan with sauteed onions and bacon. For the fun of it, I also added some crushed walnuts.
細切りにして、炒めたタマネギとベーコンと一緒にフライパンに入れた。くりも入れって、またしばらく炒めた。

With this savory mix, I stuffed the mocking mouth of my little akebi. これでアケビのあくびを詰めた。

I'm no great aficionado of bondage, but I did the best I could to truss the thusly stuffed fruit.

このアケビを糸で縛った。

 Into the frying pan it went! それで詰めたアケビをフライパンに！

 

Voila! How to tame the wild akebi!

おとなしくなったアケビちゃん。 

 I served my akebi with a fig compote made with simmered figs, ginger, star anise, Okinawan black sugar, and sake. Also with roasted enoki mushrooms, roasted kabocha pumpkin, and mashed purple sweet potatoes flavored with miso. Oh, and because I couldn't resist, some diced avocado.
今夜のメニューは詰め物のアケビにイチジクジャム（煮たイチジク、ショウガ、スターアニス、黒砂糖、お酒）、焼きえのきとカボチャ、紅サツマイモに作られたマッシュポテト（みそ味）。

 The result was a meal in which every piece complimented the others. It was a veritable montage of flavors on a fork.

その結果？よく調和した味ばかりで、お皿一つで、おいしさがいろいろ。

ごちそうさま！