Not Quite Pretty Daikon (2006-05-09)
Japanese people place a greal deal of importance in the presentation of merchandise and consummer goods. Everything from household products to vegetables is packaged beautifully and displayed attractively in the shops. And of course you pay heftily for such details.
Speaking of vegetables, there is a term called Fusoroihin which
means "not presentable, not elegant goods". These vegetables
usually have imperfect shapes or undesirable sizes even though there is
nothing wrong with their taste and nutritional value compared to the
pretty ones. Because of the imperfection, these "ugly" vegetables
are always sold at a very cheap price. The majority of Japanese
housewives shy away from Fusoroihin despite their reduced prices, but I
don't.
I love all these ugly vegetables and consider my day lucky if I come
across them, which is not often at all. I once bought a big bag
of uneven-sized carrots for just a buck, about one fifth of what I'd
have had to pay for a small bag of the "normal" ones. I don't
mind the odd shapes and sizes as long as they taste the same.
The other day I found a Fusoroi daikon and I grabbed it in a
flash. It had all these nubs in the end that look like toes, and
that big fat 1.9 kg (4 lb)daikon only cost me a buck. Lucky day
for me.
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