Tsukimi

Tsukimi (月見) or moon viewing is celebrated in Japan on the eighth month of the lunar calendar, which,  this year fell on September 22. Although rain was predicted, the skies remained clear, and the rising harvest moon was brilliant. Traditionally various autumn vegetables and fruits are set out as offerings of gratitude along with susuki grass and pyramids of mochi dango. When we lived in a house that had a garden patch of susuki we would set up the foods by a window where the moonlight shone in.

Round foods are often on our dinner menu on tsukimi nights:

rounds of carrots and shiitake beside a tsukimi burger

dango with azuki and and montblanc with chestnut

and this week's tsukimi menu--skewers of tsukune (chicken meatballs), round tofu, sweet potato rounds in rice, zucchini rounds, , and, okay, salad in a round dish.

This year we were able to eat our tsukimi meal outside by candle- and moonlight. Perfect.

Otaru Kombu

Anywhere I travel I seek out areas with preserved old buildings. This week I took a brief trip to Hokkaido. Most of my time was spent in urban Sapporo, but I managed to get out of the city for some hiking near Lake Shikotsu and for a brief visit to Otaru, a fishing port on Ishikari Bay northwest of Sapporo.

My main reason for going to Otaru was to see the preserved warehouses and shops dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the partially preserved canal.

Given my interest in seaweeds, my favorite shop was, of course, the Kombu Kan, specializing in kombu  kelp (Laminaria angustata).

 
Long fronds of kelp were draped from the ceiling.

I came home with kombu snacks and kombu tea--the salty fragrance of which takes you straight to the sea. Maybe next trip to Hokkaido I can visit the kombu harvesting towns...