More tasty dishes

BURDOCK KIMPURA A kimpura is a Japanese dish that’s simple to make. It’s comprised of matchstick–sized slivers of root vegetables – in this case burdock – fried in oil and dressed with a mixture of sake, mirin, sugar and soy sauce. It might surprise you to discover that our common burdock (yes, the other ingredient that’s paired with dandelion) is known as ‘gobo’ in Japan. Harvest some burdock roots in the autumn, making sure that the plant you’ve selected doesn’t yet have the distinctive burrs on it, or else the roots will be too tough to cut into matchsticks. HIMALAYAN BALSAM SEEDS Himalayan balsam is the tall plant with the pink flowers that proliferates alongside rivers at this time of year and is often described as a pest. The plant has seed heads that pop dramatically when ripe, sending showers of seeds raining down on passersby. Close your hands around a fat seed head and squeeze it, and you’ll find that you have a handful of the seeds that have a nice nutty flavour. They taste great roasted and sprinkled on top of a pilaf or into a taboulleh.

Himalayan balsam also has hollow stems. Cut a section between the nodes and use a stem as a straw for an autumn cocktail of gin-infused raspberries or blackberries, with sugar to taste. WOOD EAR STIR-FRY If you’re starting to get interested in fungi foraging, it’s important that you choose the correct fungi. The wood-ear, or jelly-ear, is very easy to identify. Often found growing on dead elder boughs, this mushroom is brown, semi-transparent and looks like an ear. It’s a great ingredient for a stir fry, combined with garlic, onions, bean sprouts and a dash of chilli.