春の七草

After weeks of feasting, January 7th is the day to eat a light and nutritious meal: nanakusa-gayu. This is okayu (rice porridge) flavoured with haru no nanakusa (the seven herbs of spring), and eating it on this day is said to ward off illness all year long.

Most nanakusa are no longer eaten regularly and thus not normally sold in stores, but in the days leading up to January 7th they are sold together in plastic packages especially for nanakusa-gayu. Usually they are all mixed up in their package without being identified, and to prepare the herbs you simply wash them, chop them up and stir them into cooked okayu. I doubt the average Japanese could identify them all, or even any, save for seri (Japanese watercress), which is still popular for both Japanese and western-style cooking. But this year I bought a fancier kind of nanakusa, with the herbs planted in a pot and clearly identified with wooden markers.

From left to right: suzuna (turnip); hakobera (chickweed); gogyou (cudweed); hotokenoza (henbit); nazuna (shepard's purse); seri (watercress); suzushiro (daikon radish).

The gogyou in front isn't doing too well and won't make it to the pot, but the others will soon be pulled up and prepared. I'm looking forward to the peppery, slightly bitter herb flavour they will add to the okayu, but feeling a bit guilty about the waste. Maybe I'll plant something in it when the weather warms up a bit. If only I could find something that could actually survive life on my balcony other than a few pitiful basil and parsley plants...

Last year I posted a nice picture of the nankusa ready to be chopped, and the year before I gave a little more background, as well as a recipe. The recipe can be made with different herbs or greens, or they can be omitted altogether to make regular okayu. 

Comments

[Kat]

I love it that they sell them as plants! I always buy them in the plastic boxes and never know what is what!

[obachan]

Wow, thanks for sharing these photos. I couldn't find this pot-type "Nanakusa setto" at nearby supermarket -- all they had were unidentified herbs in plastic packages or freeze-dried version. (How can anyone identify them when they are chopped and freeze-dried?!) Though I didn't eat nanakusa-gayu myself, I'm glad that someone else did it and posted about it. :)

[Martin F]

That is a lovely tradition and you took such great care to describe it well.

My memory of this special dish brings me back to the zen temple where I was training, and at the end of the meal on January 7, the roshi (teacher) made a brief speech explaining the dish we had just eating. He mentioned that this season is harsh and eating kusa (weeds) or actually herbs was an inventive way to deal with winter food shortages in the past... As Buddhists would not eat meat, even in winter, o-kayu (rice-soup) with herbs was a lifesaver.

Thanks for posting the beautiful photos.

[Trig]

Do you think seven herb pots are on sale anywhere in London?

[Amy]

Kat, I won't be buying the potted version again. The amount of herbs is way less than you get with the package, and it turns out that the daikon and turnip were not actually grown in the pot- they were just transplanted there and already seemed a bit old.

Obachan, freeze dried? I've never seen that! Isn't the whole point of nanakusaguyu to eat something FRESH and nutritious?
By the way, your nabeyaki udon looked better and more nutritious than nanakusagayu.

Martin F, thank you for the comment. You bring a different perspective to the dish, and I imagine the special gratitude one would feel after eating nanakusagayu in such a setting.

Trig, I'm not sure about the potted version, but packs of the herbs are quite likely on sale in Japanese markets, but only on the days leading up to January 7th. Try having a look next year!