Kazuyo Yamazaki and her children enjoying hot pot with pieces of shortcake, Swiss roll and doughnut (in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo)
Hiromi Chiba
Hot pots with savory pieces of cakes and cute animals on top. This is becoming a new trend among Japanese families who want to add a new twist to the Japanese traditional winter dish. Don’t worry. The figures are actually made of grated Japanese radish in a way they call “daikon oroshi art (grated Japanese radish art)”.
Kazuyo Yamazaki, 35, is also the one who learnt about the daikon oroshi art on the Internet and introduced it to her family. First, she prepares usual hot pot ingredients in the pot. Then she creates some kid-friendly figures such as pieces of cakes and animals using grated daikon. She also uses dried bonito flakes or soy sauce to tint them and small cuts of dried laver seaweed or sausages to make small parts. Like every mom, she has tons of things to do. But she spends almost 30 to 40 minutes each time to prepare the eye-pleasing dish, just wanting to see the happy faces of the children.
This year, JA Zen-Noh (the National Federation of Agricultural Co-operative Associations) Gifu Prefectural head quarters held a “Hiruga-no-kogen Daikon Cup” daikon oroshi art contest for the first time. Yamazaki entered the contest and won the first prize. “It requires extra time and work, but I just want my family to enjoy their meals,” she smiled.
(Nov. 14, 2014)