🍱 Norabouna no Ohitashi

An ohitashi dish made using norabouna, a traditional vegetable said to have been cultivated in the Suge area of Tama, Kawasaki City, for about 800 years. Norabouna was historically grown to extract oil, and farmers practiced self-seeding for personal use. Known for its strong vitality, it is said to have saved many lives during the great famine of the Edo period. Currently, it is cultivated in various areas, including the northern part of Kawasaki City, including the Suge area, and Odawara City in Kanagawa Prefecture, as well as in other prefectures such as Hiki District in Saitama Prefecture and Akiruno City in Tokyo. Belonging to the Brassicaceae family, norabouna has a unique bitterness with minimal astringency, offering a faint sweetness, tender texture, and a distinctive feature of being able to consume the flower stalks (to). When the main stem is deeply pruned about 10 centimeters above the ground surface initially, subsequent side shoots can be harvested four or five times. Local farmer Takashi Takahashi created this cultivation method around 2000 and actively shared it with neighboring farmers. During the same period, local farmers, business associations, and others collaborated to develop products such as castella and tofu using norabouna. This initiative helped transition norabouna, which had previously been primarily for personal use by farmers, into a more widely recognized vegetable. A popular way to enjoy norabouna is in ohitashi, a simple dish that allows you to savor the fragrance, sweetness, and texture of the ingredient.