This is my favorite way of eating spring time young shoots. Most of the time, people around here simply just fry them up as tempura, which is good, but I find I can’t eat a whole lot of the stuff. Pickles is the way to eat these young shoots, especially Udo and Kogomi. Udo is know as mountain asparagus, and are these shoots which grow out of a big ol’ root which is shaped like a potato. The Udo usually tastes very herbal, slightly gingery but when it is pickled it starts to taste like a Granny Smith. Kogomi on the other hand are fiddle heads, essentially the young buds of ferns. They have a green flavor, but not bitter and actually quite neutral. The mouthfeel is actually quote unique and is slimy when you chew it, almost like natto. When you pickle them, they almost taste like pickled asparagus or pickled green beans.
These are super easy to make, get some boiling water and blanch the Udo and Kogomi for 30 seconds and immediately move them to an ice bath. after wards heat up the vinegar, sugar, black pepper, mustard seeds in a pan on low heat. After the solution is warmed up and the sugar is all melted pour the liquid into a sterilized jar and put the blanched Udo and Kogomi together with the garlic and chili pepper. Let that sit for a couple of days and you have yourself some spring time pickles!
You can eat that as they are, put them in a sandwich or even on top of a salad!
