Dried kombu – a traditional Japanese foodstuff symbolising people’s prayers.
Japanese food culture was born of soft water
Chinese cuisine, which makes skilful use of oil and fire, is said to be ‘fire cuisine’, whereas Japanese cuisine, which makes the most of the natural flavours of its ingredients and often involves boiling and simmering, is called ‘water cuisine’.
Water has brought wealth and blessings to people since ancient times, as represented by the lagoons and canals of Venice and the Netherlands, and Japan is no exception. Water from Japan’s rich natural environment also accompanies people’s lives and has given birth to a unique culture, including the ‘tea ceremony’ and Japanese paper. The traditional Japanese technique of handmade washi is registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Site, and water is also essential for washi.
Japan’s soft water, which can effectively extract umami from food, is probably one of the main reasons why Japanese cuisine is known as ‘water cuisine’.
Unlike Europe and the USA, which have stable continental land masses, the ground in Japan has many faults and active volcanoes. Compared to the Seine and Rhine rivers, which flow leisurely across the plains, Japanese rivers have steep drop-offs, and the water flows quickly, and Japanese rivers do not have time to dissolve the components in the soil. This steep topography of Japan produces soft water, giving rise to Japanese food culture.
Japanese food often uses a broth called dashi as a base. Dashi broth is made by boiling dried kombu, bonito flakes and dried shiitake mushrooms in water and is widely used in ramen, miso soup and shabu-shabu. Dashi broth ingredients are also often used as a secret flavour in fried food and curry and are an essential part of the Japanese people’s comforting and reassuring taste.
This article introduces kombu, one of the main ingredients used in dashi.
History of dried kombu in Japan
Kombu is a type of seaweed. Of the seaweeds caught worldwide, the kombu described here mainly refers to the edible kombu of the genus Kombu, which belongs to the kombu family. Depending on the species, some kombu is thick and long, reaching up to 20 m.
Kombu has a long history in Japan. The oldest example is its appearance in the historical book “Shoku Nihongi”, written some 1,200 years ago. Kombu appears as an essential part of Buddhist and Shinto rituals performed by the Imperial Court, and was also designated as a tax.
The traditional Japanese performing art of Kyogen also includes a piece called ‘Kombu Selling’.
Kombu that was paid tribute to the Imperial Court was supplied to shrines and temples, where it was used as an offering at shrines and in vegetarian cooking at temples.
Kombu and people’s prayers
In Japan, there is a play on words called ‘Goro-awase’. It is a game in which different words and readings are applied to the same word and is said to have originated either in “Waka” called Japanese traditional poetry or in “Gagaku” which is Japanese ancient ceremonial music.
In addition, there is an ancient Japanese belief in the ‘Kotodama’. It is believed that words uttered by people have spiritual power and that speaking offensive words causes terrible things to happen while using terms of blessing improves the situation.
A waka poem in Japan’s oldest waka anthology, “Manyoshu”, includes the line ‘Yamato is the land of the spirit of words’ (= Japan is a land where the spiritual power of words brings happiness).
The kotodama is considered in various situations, such as war, celebrations and Buddhist rituals. Those originate in Buddhism or the wishes of fishermen and hunters for good catches and bountiful harvests.
Kombu is read as ‘kombu’ in Japanese and goes very well with various words combining happiness and victory. Kombu has been valued as a good luck charm because it is associated with the word ‘yorokobu’, which means ‘good luck’.
In marriage, the character for ‘konbu’ has been assigned to the Chinese character for ‘ko-bu-fu’ (child-bearing woman) as a prayer for the prosperity of offspring, and is used as one of the Yuino gifts.“Yuino” is a Japanese custom where the groom’s family gives gifts to the bride’s family to officially confirm their engagement, and the union of the two families through marriage is celebrated with a ceremonial feast.
Kombu was also used with the intention of ‘unveiling’ the marriage because kombu was called ‘hirome(which means “spreading”)’ in ancient times. In those days, political marriages were common, and there was probably a significant intention to make the strong alliances between families known.
Kombu also played a role in supporting the minds and bodies of warriors and their families during the Warring States period.
It was customary to eat foods with good words to pray for victory at ceremonies for going off to battle or returning triumphant, and there was a custom of eating abalones(Uchi-awabi in Japanese, dried abalones), chestnuts(Kachi-guri in Japanese, dried chestnuts) and kombu with the wish to “Uchi, Kachi, Yorokobu(which means”overcome and rejoice”). It also has the meaning of “to encourage” warriors to fight for their lives because the pronunciation of “kombu” is the same as the Kanji that means “encouragement”.
As well as being used for wordplay and to encourage good luck, kombu was also very useful as a campaign food, as it was lightweight, nutritious and could be stored for a long period of time.
Kombu has also supported people’s significant milestones and victories.
Kombu also protects the sumo ring – a traditional foodstuff handed down to the present day.
Sumo is Japan’s national sport, but in ancient times it was also a ritual to predict the harvest of crops.
Sumo tournaments are held six times a year in Japan. On the first day of the event, a ceremony is held to pray for the safety of the ring, a good harvest and national security, where kombu is also used.
Kombu is also used in the Jichinsai, a ceremony to pray for the safety of the gods of the land during civil engineering and construction work, and is a staple of New Year’s dishes.
Dried kombu is a sacred foodstuff still used in ceremonies today and a traditional foodstuff that supports people’s health.
Next article:Modernisation and dried kombu in Japan, traditional production methods
Want to try dried shiitake mushrooms and dried kombu?
Our website has just been launched.
We want to make umami known to as many people as possible so we will give samples of our dried shiitake mushrooms and dried kombu. If you want to receive a gift, sign up for our newsletter. We will let you know how to enter the giveaway in our newsletter. (The products will be sent out in June or July. Depending on your location, you may have to pay shipping costs).
Sign up for our e-mail newsletter and get dried shiitake and dried kombu!
-Reference website
https://www.ndl.go.jp/kaleido/entry/17/1.html
https://cc.nuis.ac.jp/library/files/kiyou/in2018/in2018_001.pdf
https://kombu.or.jp/power/history
https://president.jp/articles/-/64005?page=1
Aalivation effect activates the brain Anchovies Appetite suppression effect Buddhist cuisine Cheese colorectal cancer dietary fibre Dried kombu Dried mushrooms Dried shiitake Dry masurooms Dulse EPA improves immunity interview Iodine Keisuke Matsushima kelp minerals Nice Nori Oliveoil producer Recipes salt reduction SDGs Seavegetables Sea vegetables Seaweed Shiitake Tastes vegitarian Vitamins Wakame well-being Yoga zen