Butterbur Ohitashi (ふきのお浸し, Fuki no Ohitashi)

Fuki is the stem that tells you spring has stopped being shy. It is pale green, faintly bitter, and grassy in a way no winter vegetable can imitate. If you meet it for the first time, the peeling may look like work for a very serious person with too much string in his life. It isn't. Salt, boiling water, cold water, patience. That is most of it.

The one detail that decides fuki no ohitashi is aku-nuki, removing the harshness without washing away the character. We roll the stems with salt so the fine surface roughens and the green wakes up, then blanch just long enough for the skin to loosen. Peel after the cold bath, while the stem is firm and bright. Skip the peeling and every bite reminds you. Soak too long and the bitterness disappears, which sounds helpful until you notice the fuki has gone quiet.

After that, ohitashi does what its name says: it soaks. A clear dashi, a little usukuchi shōyu, and mirin carry seasoning into the stems while leaving their spring bitterness in plain view. This is a composed salad by the method, not the menu, and it belongs beside rice, soup, and something grilled or simmered. Serve it cool or at room temperature, with a few bonito flakes or one kinome leaf. Leave it room. Fuki is thin, but it knows exactly what season it is.