Wasabi- anyone who has ever tried Japanese cuisine will find it difficult to get past this very special delicacy. Especially sushi lovers of all coleur will be only too familiar with the green Japanese variety of the common horseradish.
The cultivation of wasabi is usually in family hands and is particularly prevalent in the higher regions of Nagano Prefecture. On a trip to Matsumoto, we couldn't resist a little detour and today's post features a few pictures of that visit.
Wasabi farming is a year-round job and one thing in particular is needed, large amounts of fresh clear water, which must flow at a slow speed through the wasabi farm.
As you can see in the first pictures, in summer the wasabi plants are covered with large black sheets to protect them from direct sunlight and to prevent the water underneath from heating up too much.
The sight of these wasabi fields was totally unexpected for me, but immediately left a strong and reassuring impression. Life under the covers was quite relaxed, and the still very small plants were allowed to help themself to the cool water. The water here comes directly from the nearby mountains and was pleasantly crisp even in the warm Japanese summer and a relief my tired feet. But also in winter the wasabi farmers have to work in the water, and a then they have to deal with completely different temperatures.
In this area you can also find very special colored dragonflies, some almost completely black ones I hadn't seen before. In my home country dragonflies have become quite rare, but here in Japan these little helicopters still fly around quite a lot and can be spotted even near residential areas.
As already mentioned, wasabi needs water and a lot of it. Fortunately, Japan does not have a problem with annual rainfall. On the contrary, in many areas there is rather too much of it, as this year's rainy season proved once again. And there is no lack of snow in Nagano, and countless streams and rivers bring the precious water to the lowlands, where it is needed in the fields.
One would have expected this scenery with the water wheel somewhere in Europe, and not here in the far east, but perhaps therefore it exudes that very special charm. But why shouldn't the ancient Japanese have come up with similar ideas as the people in the rest of the world? Allegedly, this background has been used for many movies and also tv series, people always like a little romance.
Here we see the good old wasabi, pickled and jarred, waiting for a hungry consumer.Of course, anyone who is still sane will not bite into the wasabi bulb like that, the precious commodity is shaved quite sparingly to be seasoned over certain dishes and consumed with caution. In most restaurants you get rather a wasabi paste, but if you get the chance to try real wasabi, you shouldn't definitely give it a go. Only who dares wins!
That's it for today. Please stop by again for some more stories from the land of the rising sun. I still have a lot to discover, and I'm already looking forward to my next adventure.
Love and Respect !
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