Delicate flowers become a delicacy
JAPAN NEWS
Workers sort and clean cherry blossoms before pickling them in salt and ume vinegar in Hadano, Kanagawa prefecture.
HADANO, Japan >> Production of salt-pickled cherry blossoms reached its peak in late April in Hadano, Kanagawa prefecture, known for edible yaezakura (double-flowered) cherry blossoms.
Members of Chimura Wakatake-kai, a group of producers, manually remove dust and dirt from harvested flowers one by one. The flowers are then pickled with salt and ume (plum) vinegar for about a month. During peak production, the group makes about 300 kilograms (over 660 pounds) of the pickled blossoms a week. The product is used as an ingredient in dishes and as a garnish.
“The flowers bloomed later than usual this year, but the color and shape are perfect. So it seems we will be able to produce beautiful and fragrant salted pickles,” said the leader of Chimura Wakatake-kai.
