Takuan plus

Doesn't look like takuan, does it? Takuan (沢庵) is a kind of pickled daikon. Its creation is attributed to a Rinzai Zen priest, Takuan Soho but, since he was from a farming family, I assume it was a family and regional recipe that he brought with him when he became abbot of Tokaiji, an important temple in the then-new Tokugawa capital, Edo (now known as Tokyo).

Traditional takuan is a sort of muddy, yellow-brown color. Most modern takuan is bright orange, no doubt from yellow dye # 197 or whatever. This takuan, however, has been buried in a crock of miso. How long? I don't know. It was given to my wife and she didn't ask for the recipe. It's somewhat milder in flavor than most takuan, but saltier. Maybe I should say "even saltier" since takuan is always salty.

Takuan is eaten with many or most traditional Japanese meals, usually at or near the end of the meal, as what the French call a digestif -- something sour that supposedly helps you digest your meal more easily.

It has a special and important place in meals at Zen temples where there is a particular ritualized way of eating. Each priest has his personal set of four bowls, a pair of chopsticks, and a furoshiki -- a cloth to wrap it all up. (At least, that's what I used the one time I stayed at a Zen temple. I've read that the sets vary in size from three to five bowls and some include a spoon as well as chopsticks.) At the end of the meal, each priest is given one or two pieces of takuan which he uses, with his chopsticks, to wipe out the inside of each bowl in turn. After the takuan has been eaten, hot water is poured into one of the bowls. The priest swirls it around to pick up the flavor of the takuan, then pours it into the next bowl. After the water has been swirled around each bowl in turn, the priest drinks the water, then wipes the set of bowls and chopsticks with the furoshiki, making everything clean. Finally, the bowls and chopsticks are wrapped in the furoshiki and set aside, ready for the next meal. Not a speck of food is wasted and hygiene is assured by the acidic takuan, hot water swirl, and furoshiki wipe.