We can never resist the temptation of buying produce that’s hard to come by in Japan.
Our Japanese-language reporter Ikuna Kamezawa recently took a trip to Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture. One of the first things she did upon arrival was to stop at a local farmer’s market since Ibaraki is a leading center of agricultural production in Japan and she thought she might score some good deals.
While she was there, she spotted a vegetable that she had never seen before: maxixe (mashishi in Japanese; maroon cucumber, West Indian gherkin, or burr cucumber in English).
▼ It even had a sign next to it proclaiming its rarity in Japan.
Though indigenous to Africa, maxixe is also grown in North and South America. The sign at the farmer’s market mentioned that it’s often used in Brazilian-style minestrone soup, and even boldly claimed that the vegetable has “a taste that you’ve never experienced before.”
▼ The store also recommended using it in tempura and stir-fried dishes.
Welp, there was simply no other choice for Ikuna–her curiosity demanded that she bring home the new vegetable to try it for herself!
▼ These ones were grown just to the east in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki.
She took one out of the bag and inspected it from all angles. It gave off goya (bitter melon) and durian vibes with its green, oval-like shape and prickles. Despite its unusualness, the whole bag of eight egg-sized maxixe cost only 150 yen (US$0.98).
Ikuna wanted to try the the maxixe’s flavor as unadulterated as possible, so she opted to make a simple vegetable stir-fry with it. The packaging provided cooking-prep advice to cut off the spiky parts and then slice it. She wasn’t sure if that meant she should still keep the skin on as a whole or not, but she elected to keep it on and just remove the spikes.
▼ As the spikes came off, she caught whiffs of something that smelled like bamboo.
After slicing one lengthwise, here was the resulting cross-section.
She thought the insides resembled a delinquent cucumber. It even smelled like one at this point.
▼ The maxixe is, in fact, a member of the cucumber family.
Would it really taste like nothing she’d ever eaten before…? Ikuna was skeptical at this point.
She also had no idea how much time the maxixe would take to cook. She had read though that they’re also used in salads, so she supposed that eating them raw wouldn’t be an issue.
She stir-fried the slices alongside some other vegetables, and voila! The dish looked great from a visual standpoint.
However, the important thing was the taste. She lifted one piece up to her mouth…
Thank GOODNESS. It really was a flavor that she had never tasted before. She had been preparing herself for disappointment, so this was a wonderful ending.
In summary, while the maxixe’s appearance, smell, and high water content resembled that of a cucumber, its texture was unmistakably different. It was hard to put into words, but Ikuna might describe it as similar to a lightly grilled eggplant. It also had elements of other gourds like zucchini and melon mixed in.
Perhaps it was her imagination, but was there also a hint of sourness in there…? If so, her final description would be “cucumber + eggplant + indistinct gourd + slight acidity.” In any case, it was a flavor that she liked. At that price, she could see herself buying it regularly if only the stores near her home sold it, and she’s happy to have had another successful cooking adventure with unique vegetables she’d never tried before.
Photos © SoraNews24
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