JOURNAL / JAPAN etc.（English）

JAPAN［Hokkaido］
Japanese Ingredients for the World’s Top Kitchens＃44

Flavor Out Draws Process Curing Intensive-Labor RAUSU KONBU

2024.09.05

text by Michiko Watanabe / photographs by Daisuke Nakajima / English text by Susan Rogers Chikuba

Though the times are always changing, there are certain timeless ingredients from Japan that will never go out of style. Yukio Hattori, president of Hattori Nutrition College in Tokyo, introduces unique labors of love—items grown and produced with care and integrity by hardworking suppliers across the country.

連載：未来に届けたい日本の食材

Cited by UNESCO as “one of the richest integrated ecosystems in the world,” Shiretoko lies in the northeast of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island. The peninsula is also known for the premium kelp harvested each July and August in Rausu, on its south side. Grown in the nutrient-rich water of the Sea of Okhotsk, Rausu kombu is high in glutamates, bringing a depth of sweetness and umami savoriness to stocks and foods made with it.

Much of that flavor is owed to the hands-on, 23-step curing process, we learned from Kazuaki Ida, who represents the local industry. His tips? “Never wipe off the white powder. That’s crystallized umami—it’s where all the flavor is.” Also, “Wild kombu is best for dashi. Cultivated fronds are softer, and better suited to eating in simmered dishes. Use kombu as a wrap to cure fish, or slip a piece under a block of tofu. You’ll be amazed at the taste.”

（photo left）Rausu kombu is pressed three times as it is cured, to bring out its full umami. Of the 17,000 tons of kelp harvested in Hokkaido yearly, premium Rausu kombu amounts to just 300 tons.（photo right）Left to cure overnight, the fronds are then unfurled and matched for size.