Yes Spring! I love eating seasonally as it’s better for you and your wallet. Especially eating spring ferns really makes me feel the end of long cold winter, this little young buds coming out of the soil with full of energy, we shouldn’t over harvest it but eat with much appreciation for the share.
Fiddleheads are commonly eaten with lemon butter, or raspberry vinaigrette in North America. Now, how about with Umeboshi Butter!?
Umeboshi is a traditional Japanese picked plum. You can find pasted Umeboshi or whole pieces in a package in Asian grocery section at various super markets. It’s very very sour and salty that you probably don’t want to eat by itself, but makes great accent in sushi rolls and in salad dressing.
The Umeboshi Butter is very simple.
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 1 or 2 Umeboshi – chopped & pasted, or 1 tbsp of Umeboshi paste
Mix well and toss in the steamed or boiled Fiddleheads. I love salt, so I use normal butter, and sometimes even add a dash of soy sauce or Bragg sauce, but unsalted butter also works great.
Enjoy the beginning of Spring!