And thus we were three: us and Nukachan - our companion for life.

As Mika-san and I(B) had arrived early for a Nuka-lesson at Gunji-sensei's house, we were invited as guests to a tea ceremony class. Its always hypnotizing to watch the details that a 'go Teishu' (tea ceremony master) puts into preparing the tea, so of cause we joined in. One student had studied for 20 years, another for 17 years...kind of indicate the complexity of this art form right?

The summer-tea ceremony differs from the winter-tea ceremonies, not just because of the 'light' service used (like thin glass cups opposed to thick ceramic cups, light bamboo tray opposed to wood trays during winter etc), but also because of the temperature of the water used for making the tea. During winter the water is heated to 80°C (Sencha 100 °C) before it is mixed with the tea leaves. Two pots of tea can be made of one batch of leaves(ichi-sen & ni-sen).
During summertime, the water is only heated to 25°C, more leaves are used, and three pots of tea can be made of one batch of tea leaves (ichi-sen, ni-sen & san-sen).
As three students practiced tea ceremony today it meant we each had 9 cups of tasty green tea!

The second best part of the tea ceremony – the tea being the best of cause – is the o Kashi, a typical Japanese sweet that goes well with the tea. Often it is made of beans.

The design of the cake is decided upon the occasion or the season of the year. Today's 'o kashi' was made by an 82 year old cake-artist here in Koriyama, and the cake was inspired by the sea. The white beans in the translucent jelly symbolize stones in clear water.

After the tea ceremony class and a tasty lunch, the Nuka-class could begin.

One of the three most important components of a Japanese meal is pickles (the other two being miso soup and rice). Pickles are made in many different ways, but the most demanding one must be the vegetables pickled in nuka, as nuka needs constant love and care.

Nuka is a kind of fermented paste made of mainly rice bran(nuka), salt and water. In the old days every family would have its own Nuka-pot handed down from generations, because the thing is that a nuka-pot can live forever, if well taken care of.

To the rice brand, salt and water, we added as well yoghurt, and the following for taste: Dashi (bonito flakes), Kombu (kelp), Shitake musrooms, Niboshi (dried baby sardines) and thinly sliced Togarashi chilis (which also keeps the bugs on a distance.)




Because the nuka paste contains live bacillus, it must be carefully monitored meaning I every single day from now on, must mix the nuka paste by hand to avoid molds. If this is done well, Nuka-chan (as Mika-san kindly has baptized it) will stay with us forever.

To create the pickles, vegetables like cucumber, eggplant, burdock or carrot are buried in the paste for one and a half day, and then ready to be served!