January 6th-10th, 2024 is Winter-Shokan (lesser cold) -67th KOU “SERI flourishes”
In ancient China, people ate a soup made with seven types of young green vegetables on 7th January to hope good health and a healthy life. And this custom has become widespread in Japan as “NANAKUSA (seven vegetables) -GAYU (rice soupe)”.
SERI (Japanese parsley) is a popular ingredient for NANAKUSA-GAYU.
It is a plant that grows in places where water flow is narrow, such as along the edge of rice fields. There are many rice fields around here, but I don’t see SERI at this time of year. This is because there is no water in the fields during the winter.
Instead, SEIYO (western)-“SERI” grows in clusters. This is another name (Japanese name) for cresson.
Cresson is a naturalized plant native to Europe, and was introduced to Japan as a food in the early MEIJI period of Japan. It prefers a cool climate, so the climate of SHINSHU area may have been ideal for its growth.
I see it all over the place around here. Cresson has been decided to be the new SHINSHU NANAKUSA!
