※This article was published at November 2014.※
I am sure many of you have seen a yellow garnish flower on the side of a dish when you order sashimi or sushi at a Japanese restaurant.
However, little did you know that it is not just for aesthetic purpose, but it is actually edible!
Wasabi is known to add its sharp and hot flavor to food. Besides its flavor, it kills harmful bacteria and parasites that could be present in raw food.
This is the reason why it is served with sashimi.
Similarly, this yellow garnish flower called Kiku has the same bactericidal effect.
It has a distinct bitter flavor, not so flavorful like wasabi.
However, there is a way to cook them to make it delicious!
I found this whole bunch of kiku at a farmers market for only 200 yen.
Brightly yellow and looks very fresh.
Chicken Breast 100g
（Sake, Salt）
Spinach 300g
Edible yellow chrysanthemum 30g
Sake 2 tsp
Soy sauce 1tsp
Salt a pinch
Dashi (fish broth) 3 tbsp
Soy sauce 1 tbsp
Rice vinegar 3 tbsp
1) Sprinkle sake and salt over chicken breast, put it into the microwave for a few minutes. Wait till it cools down, and then tear it apart.
2) Boil the spinach, drain it and let it sit in ice water for 30 minutes. Wring out the water, cut it into about 3-4 cm pieces, sprinkle some soy sauce, and then wring out again.
3) Pick the petals off the flower. Boil the petals in the water with a splash of vinegar. Once it's boiled, pour them into a bowl filled with water.
Wring out the water.
4) In the end, mix the chicken breast, spinach and petals of flower together.
Dress them with dashi and soy sauce.
The key here is to boil the petals.
This way, the color of the petals will stay bright.
You can now try to make dressing and sauce with these pretty edible flower!
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