Fry rape blossoms which have been quickly boiled and soaked in sauce, fried lightly with butter or sesame oil, and put them in a heat-resistant plate.

Mix mayonnaise and mustard into tofu that has been drained and smashed, and add a bit of white soy sauce to taste. Pour them over the rape blossoms, and put them in the oven after sprinkling cheese on the top.

Cooked to a beautiful brown, it gives out a savory smell. It's a delicious spring gratin.

As I tried making it

There is also a dish made by Ms. Aiba of rice with rape blossoms and kobashira on page 71. I realized that even though she is using the same ingredients in both dishes, how she handles them differently makes for a nice variation.

Because I'm using the rape blossoms I wanted to make them obvious. So I lined them up neatly in a container and let their heads stick out and pouring the tofu sauce over them.

To drain water off tofu, using a microwave is not only convenient but it also has another advantage. If you wrap the tofu with a towel and heat it up for thirty seconds or so, it will be heated and giving out the water at the same time, so smash it in a great hurry and make the sauce. By pouring them over the rape blossoms and putting them in the oven while they are still hot you can reduce the baking time and consequently the green color of rape blossoms will not be lost as well.

Plate: Heat-resistant casserole from Takashimaya
From Shiki no Aji (April 1994)

Translated by Maiko Noda