October 2022

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[Chestnuts]

It is the season for chestnuts, one of the delicacies of autumn. Chestnuts are a deciduous tree of the beech family that grows wild in a wide range of mountains and fields from southern Hokkaido to Kyushu. Chestnuts have been valued as food since the Jomon period and are mentioned in the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters). During the Warring States period, dried chestnuts called "kachi (pounded) chestnuts" were used to boost morale because of the good luck associated with "kachi" meaning "victory. Today, chestnuts are still used for cooking for festivals and events.

In addition to food, chestnuts are also used for wood for building and wood tools, and later for fuel. Because of its tannin content, chestnut wood is durable and moisture-resistant, and is used for building foundations, railroad sleepers, ship materials, furniture, bathroom boards, and as a raw material for growing shiitake mushrooms. The main components of the gassho-zukuri style buildings in Gifu Prefecture's Shirakawa-go, a World Heritage Site, are also made of chestnut.

Chestnuts as foodstuff are a superfood with high nutritional value. The outer skin is the pulp, the inner skin is the astringent skin, and the part of the chestnut we generally eat (the kernel) is the seed. From vitamins B1 and C, potassium, dietary fiber, and folic acid, the astringent peel contains tannin, a type of polyphenol, which is a powerful antioxidant that is effective for anti-aging. Although boiling the astringent peel, including the astringent peel, is time-consuming, the taste is well worth the effort. Chestnuts are valued from foodstuff to wood, so why not enjoy the taste of autumn only now?

Chestnuts boiled in astringent skin

Ingredients:
1 kg chestnuts
1 tablespoon baking soda
450 g sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. soak chestnuts in water for about half a day or in boiling water for about 30 minutes to make them easier to peel. Make an incision with a knife from the seat to the head, and peel only the devil's skin so as not to damage the astringent skin. 2.
Add baking soda to the peeled chestnuts and enough water to cover them, and boil over medium heat in a saucepan for 10 minutes. When the water in the pot turns black, drain the chestnuts and change the water to remove the scum. 3.
3. carefully remove any streaks or cottony skin with your fingers or a bamboo skewer, so as not to damage the astringent skin. 4.
4. boil the chestnuts in the same way as in step 2 for 5 to 6 minutes, then drain off the water and repeat 4 or 5 times to drain into a colander.
3. fill a pot with enough water to cover the chestnuts, add 1/3 of the sugar and boil for 10 minutes. Repeat 3 times, and when the sugar has been added, add salt at the end.

Koizumi Glass's Canister M
https://www.shokunin.com/en/koizumi/canister.html
Appi Urushi Studio's Flat Bowl
https://www.shokunin.com/en/appi/bowl.html
Sonobe Sangyo's Meibokuwan Chestnut M
https://www.shokunin.com/en/sonobe/wan.html

References
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/クリ
https://www.maff.go.jp/j/pr/aff/1910/spe2_02.html
https://ne-koiki.jp/item/kurizensho/p04_17/p04.html
https://www.maff.go.jp/j/keikaku/syokubunka/k_ryouri/search_menu/menu/33_13_saitama.html

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[Onigiri Action]

Have you ever heard of "Onigiri Action"? By posting a photo of "onigiri," a typical Japanese food, on a social networking service (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) or on a special website, sponsors will donate 100 yen, which is equivalent to five school lunches, for each photo posted. Donations will be sent as school lunches to children in Africa and Asia through the NPO Table For Two. 2022 is taking place from October 6 to November 6.

Participation is easy. All you have to do is tag #OnigiriAction in your post. The sunny autumn weather will bring more opportunities to eat lunch at parks and other places. Why not participate by thinking about "food" from a different perspective and taking pictures of the onigiri you make at home while appreciating the new rice?

Rikucho Ogasawara's Onigiri Iron Plate is currently on display in our Ginza showroom. Some say that the meat-rolled rice balls are especially exquisite. The crispy, savory pork and fluffy rice intertwine with the sweet sauce and become the star of the table.

Rikucho Ogasawara's Onigiri Iron Plate
https://www.shokunin.com/en/rikucho/onigiri.html
Kurikyu's Magewappa Lunch Box (Unpainted) Koban Slim
https://www.shokunin.com/en/kurikyu/mutosou.html
Ginza Showroom
https://www.shokunin.com/en/rikucho/onigiri.html
Onigiri Action
https://onigiri-action.com/about/

Reference
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000172.000008886.html

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[The Hometown of Hiyoko, a Famous Confectionary]

Hiyoko is a famous confectionery with a cute appearance and smooth yellowish-red bean paste. The hometown of Hiyoko is located in Chikuho Iizuka, in the central part of Fukuoka Prefecture. During the period of national isolation, Iizuka was located along the Nagasaki Kaido Highway, where sugar imported from Dejima in Nagasaki was transported to Kokura. For this reason, Nagasaki Kaido is also known as "Sugar Road."

Chikuho has prospered from coal mining since the early Meiji period due to the Chikuho Coal Field. For the people working in the coal mines, where physical labor was a constant source of energy, sweet foods may have been one of the reasons that supported the making of sweets.

In 1913, Shigeru Ishizaka, the second generation owner of a confectionery shop in Iizuka City that had been in operation since the Meiji era, developed Hiyoko, a lovely shaped bun in the world of confectionery where only round or square buns were available, out of his desire to create a bun that would be loved more than round ones.

On the first page of Hiyoko Honpo Yoshinodo's booklet, there are these words.

"Time after time, day after day, people are filled with fleeting thoughts, and there is a shape that will never change."

As I was taking pictures of the famous Hiyoko sweets in the Wakamatsu Showroom, I was filled with feelings of "Thank you" for the Wakato Bridge and all the tangible things that exist here and now and the people who gave birth to Hiyoko like a parent bird.

Hiyoko Honpo Yoshinodo
http://www.hiyoko.co.jp/
Wakamatsu Showroom
https://www.shokunin.com/en/showroom/wakamatsu.html
Ceramic Japan's Duck
https://www.shokunin.com/en/ceramicjapan/ahiru.html