when otoosan came in from taking denko (the dog) for a walk holding a handful of these purple-ish colored pods i was kinda intrigued until i looked closer and saw the huge white slug-like bugs living inside the pods.
talk about disgusting!!
otoosan then carefully plucked out one of these bugs and then without a blink of an eye popped it into his mouth!
ok ok, i'm exaggerating a bit here.
that white-ish slug-like bug is actually the edible pulp of the akebia quinata fruit; a native plant to japan, china and korea.
k-chan's family were surprised that i had never even seen or heard of this fruit before and wanted me to give it a try.
they said it tasted sweet but the bite i took of this weird fruit just tasted kinda bitter...
in japanese this fruit is called "akebi" (アケビ) and a quick google later i found out that in english it's called a "chocolate vine" or a "five-leaf akebia".
apparently the plant's flowers which bloom in the spring smell like chocolate or even vanilla. will have to go into the garden for a bt of a sniff next year.
oh, and in new zealand this plant is prohibited for sale and on the national pest plant list because it's a invasive plant; kills off the native plants.
no wonder i've never heard of it!
anyway, that was your gardening lesson for today.
you can store this information in that part of your brain used for useless info.
by the way, it's blimmin freezing here!
japan got it's first snow fall for the year yesterday. the mountains around here have a dusting on snow on them. time to bring out the winter woollies!!
11 comments:
Yikes. I totally believed you. It does look like a giant, hairy, white slug/worm. :P
hahaha you got me.
I thought he really ate the slug-bug. :p
Very interesting, never seen it nor have known about it.
I know, it's freezing here! something is very wrong.
なつかしい！
They always remind me of my grandfather as I remember eating them with him in his mountains as a child. They taste very mild and delicate, don't they. Glad you got to try them. Nice pictures of them, too.
wow, never seen this very un-photogenic fruit before. how exotic! it would be fun to taste even though its appearance makes me cringe.
i think the lesson here is, don't diss ugly people. it's the inside that counts! lol
* life for beginners
you know it wouldn't surprise me if it really was a giant bug. there are so many bugs and beetles out here in the mountains...
* pascale
I wonder if these vines/trees grow in Tokyo? I guess they do; keep your eyes peeled and you might find one.
And what's with this cold whether?! now looks like we have a typhoon coming towards us!
* aixxx
You are the only one to say "natsukashii"!
I wonder if these vines only grow up here in the mountains? the one I tasted was kinda bitter (the seeds); I might try another one.
Did you know the pods are used for 漢方?
* luuworld
Guess it's like the duran fruit; smells like shit but tastes like heaven. (I thought it tasted like shit though!)
O.O
Is the texture slimy? It looks alien...
* gingerbee
nope. it's not really slimy; kinda like a passion-fruit texture minus the juice.
RE: your reply to luuworld - Oh no, you don't like the taste of durian! :(
But not many non-Southeast Asians do actually, and I have many Malaysian friends who dislike it too. But for me? It's heavenly... :D
Post a Comment