Shubun-no-hi (秋分の日）

Shubun-no-hi is the Autumn Equinox Day. It  falls on the 22 of September on this current year . During the week of the equinox , Buddhist temples hold special services and people pay their respects at the ancestors' graves.

On the 16th , I went to the Myoshinji-temple in Kyoto to offer prayers and  flowers to our ancestors' grave .
At home we eat Ohagi which is an oval-shaped sweet made from sticky rice, coated with sweet red-bean paste.

 Higan(彼岸）  is a week which centers around the vernal  and autumnal equinox.

We have a  proverb that the heat and the cold continues till Higan. 

But it was 28 degrees yesterday and   this morning I am feeling  cold , I  just saw some people wearing coats!

Myoshinji-temple

 ↑  Home-made Ohagi prepared by one of my reader.   My mouth is watering!!! She made 18 ohagi but she only took this  picture as her 3 of sons love it  and finished  almost all at  once!
                           
 The yellow powder is  Kinako(roasted soybean flour.

Japanese Sweet Corns

The Japanese sweet corns are very sweet just like fruits.I was so surprised  as the corns that I ate in Singapore,which are from Malaysia,were not very sweet.
Only then did I realised that the Japanese corns are grown by the breeding method so they are so sweet.
The other day,I made pancakes using the sweet corns.I shaved them and fried the grains,thus following the recipe.
The pancakes were sweet so I did not have to pour any maple syrup on them.I also enjoyed the crunchiness of the corns.
Anyway,I am sure that the best way to prepare Japanese corns is to just boil or grill them and subsequently,spread soy sauce.
Summer is the season of the sweet corns.Now,they have come from Hokkaido.

It was  33.8 degrees  here today, that is about 5-7 degrees higher than the normal month  though September is supposed to be  autumn by the Japanese calendar.

Young Ginger with Leaves(葉生姜 Ha-Shoga)

 We call it ha-shoga;ha is leaves and shoga is ginger in the Japanese language.
We cut off the leaves of the ginger and eat it after a dip in miso or dressing.
When I was in Singapore,I did not come across any young ginger with leaves.
The taste of it is  less pungent than the normal ginger so we can enjoy eating it just like salad.
Since Yanaka(谷中） in Tokyo is the most famous place in the production of  this ginger ,we also call it the Yanaka shoga.
We can pickle the ginger's stems and roots and　serve it with  a grilled fish like a salted mackerel  in a plate as a refreshment and a good antidote too.

We do appreciate 4 clear-cut seasons so we are hasty in eating the seasonal vegetables .
We enjoy the very small bamboo shoots in the early spring too!

                                              deep fried (tempura)ginger

                                                 

                                       marinated ginger

                                    The color of  the  roots  becomes pinkish.