Winter illuminations are brightening up the nights in Tokyo now that the days are shorter and nights are cold!
I’ve been warming up with 鍋 (nabe or hotpot) with Kagoshima black pork slices that I received from furusato nozei (unique tax system in Japan that lets you transfer your tax to other domestic regions in exchange for a ‘thank you gift’ including food. More about furusato nozei in my previous post).
As long as it’s not from your ward that the residence tax goes to, you can select a region to transfer your tax. You can search from the thank you gift offered but I like to transfer my tax to regions that I have an affinity with.
I selected Kagoshima’s black pork as my dad’s from there. For my other furusato nozei, I selected a town in Aomori as I really enjoyed visiting there to walk along Oirsase Gorge, skiing in 2020, and apple picking in September 2020.
Aomori is famous for apples and garlic. Having picked crunchy apples last year and as garlic is such a heavily used ingredient in our household, I ordered 2kg of garlic through furusato nozei from Kinta Garlic and it arrived this week!
They are huge!
27 white, big Aomori garlic. Yum.
According to the growers, Aomori not only produces the most amount of garlic in Japan but they are famous due to its size and sweetness. The garlic grows and sweetens under the long and harsh Aomori winter before a growth spurt in spring. Not only are they sweet, but they are also rich in minerals and iron through the quality soil making it a great immune-boosting food.
Tips on how to store garlic
I have never purchased so much garlic in my life and although we probably eat a clove a day, we aren’t going to get through 27 extra-large garlic that quickly. Luckily, they provided tips on storing garlic which you may find helpful too.
- Wrap them in a newspaper and keep them cool in the fridge.
- When freezing, peel its skin and wrap it in glad wrap.
- If you have any leftovers, pickle them in soy sauce!
I’m looking forward to cooking up some yummy garlic dishes including oven-roasted whole garlic, pasta, hummus dips, and more!
Do you have a favourite garlic dish? I would love it if you share it in the comment below!
Hope you have a safe weekend👋🏻.
Native Expat 