Chrysanthemum Day 菊の節句 Kiku no Sekku also known as Chōyō no sekku 重陽の節句 which is the last of the five ancient sacred festivals of Japan Gosekku 五節句 for the year.

The 9th of the 9th 9月9日 is said to be a very auspicious day in Japanese culture. Another word for the ninth day of the ninth month is chokyù which means ‘double nines. Chokyù is a homonym (a word with the same spelling but has two meanings) for a Japanese word meaning permanence or longevity. Another word for chrysanthemum is “okinagusa”and “chiyomigusa,” names that are also associated with longevity. Because of this the festival is celebrated in the wish for long life and also called the chrysanthemum festival.

In farming and mountain villages, many regions designate this day as a harvest festival associated with the autumn rice harvest. It overlaps with the season for harvesting chestnuts, so it is also called Kuri no Sekku (kuri means chestnut in Japanese).

This day coincides with the blooming of the chrysanthemum. The official flower of Japan and the symbol of the emperor. Kiku no Sekku was an annual day of feasting in the imperial court during the Heian period 794–1185. There are documents stating that chestnuts were roasted and added to (nimono) simmered vegetable dishes in Tokyo. They were even offered as a celebratory Choyo no Sekku gift.

On this day it is tradition for people to eat chestnut rice “Kurigohan”. In order to celebrate the harvest, people will cook the kuri (chestnut) and Japanese rice with seasonings, and then enjoy such kurigohan as a traditional food.

September is the time in the U.K. for the new academic year. This is not the case in Japan as theirs starts in April, however as everyone has been off over the summer it is still a time for people at school, college or university to be going back to their studies. It can be difficult to eat a healthy balanced meal during the day however there is one way that Japanese people do this and that’s with bento!

I thought I would use the Japanese concept tsukurioki to make a range of meals inspired by chrysanthemum day to use in a special bento.

Tsukurioki means pre-made or put aside. In old Japan it would refer to making preserved foods maybe by fermentation or pickling, something you would not be eating straight away. However now it refers more to people batch cooking and people leading a busy life who make food in advance to see them through a few days. Making a batch of different foods that can be stored in the fridge and combined to make bento lunches or put together with rice and soup to make a meal, is a perfect way to use tsukurioki.

Why not forward plan and try out this method. Set aside time to prepare food and this will free up time and help simplify your life later on.

These are quick simple recipes to make in advance and put together later.

The bento consists of:

Chestnut rice (Kurigohan) you can make this and freeze and defrost in the microwave. Do not store rice in the fridge

Tofu Dengaku skewers

Shungiku Shira-ae

Eggplant with Goma dressing

Candied sweet potato Daigaku-imo (university potato)

Shira-ae stuffed peppers

Ganmodoki tofu fritter

You can find the recipe for Ganmodoki & Daigaku-imo already on my recipe pages.

Kurigohan 栗ご飯 the signature dish for chrysanthemum day that signals the arrival of autumn in Japan.

I like to use the already shelled and precooked variety of chestnuts you get in a pack as using these makes this dish so much more easier to prepare. You will need about 10 whole chestnut cut into halves.

Wash one rice cooker cup of Japanese rice until the water runs clear. (The plastic rice cooker cup that comes with the rice cooker is 3/4 cup (180ml). In Japan, this amount is called ichi go (一合). After this put the rice in a sieve and leave to air for ten minutes before adding your rice cooker or pan. Add 1 1/2 rice cooker cups of cold water. 1 rice cooker cup (180 ml) of rice – 200 ml of water

Leave the rice to soak in the water for at least 1 hour. Add to your rice 1 tablespoon of mirin and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce or tamari . Add your chestnuts to the top of the rice.

You can go one step further and make takikomi gohan with a mix of mushrooms, burdock root and carrot along with the chestnuts. Also adding  a small packets of mixed grains is nice.

You can read more and get the recipe on my recipe pages for Takikomi Gohan.

Press your rice cooker to cook.

Or if using a pan turn on the burner heat with the lid on and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, turn the heat to low and  cook until the water has been absorbed around 10 minutes, then leave with the lid on to steam for 10-15 mins. Fluff up the rice gently. Use for your bento, and freeze any remaining for later and microwave for a few minutes to use again.

Shira-ae 白和え

For this special chrysanthemum day bento I wanted to make Shira-ae using chrysanthemum greens also known as “Shungiku” 春菊. The leaves have a fragrant bitter sweet taste and are full of calcium, iron, carotene and vitamins. I found these at the farmers market but you can use other greens or vegetables if you can not find them.

Shira-ae 白和え is a traditional recipe from the Shojin ryori Zen Buddhist cuisine. The tofu is mashed into a paste with sesame and miso and can basically be mixed with vegetables or used as a stuffing like I did with the peppers. 

I chose to use the medium “Shizenno Megumi” tofu from dragonfly foods for all the recipes in this bento. Dragonfly foods is a parent company of “Hikari Miso” of which I also use here.

(Shungiku Shira-ae) 春菊の白和え

Chrysanthemum Greens and Tofu Salad

First take the tofu out of the pack and discard the liquid, prepare your tofu by wrapping it in a paper towel pressing out any liquid with a weight on top. Alternatively wrap in a paper towel and microwave for one minute and leave to cool. Cut half the block of tofu and save the other for making tofu dengaku. Put your tofu in a bowl and crumble it with your hands. You will need to toast and grind 2 tablespoons of white sesame seeds or you can buy them already ground known as suri-goma. Add this to a separate bowl with 1 teaspoon of white sesame paste or tahini if you can’t get Japanese sesame paste,1/2 teaspoon of sugar,1 teaspoon of white miso paste, 1 teaspoon of mirin and 1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari and mix. 

Put the miso mixture in with the tofu and cream it altogether. The process of doing this and also grinding your own sesame seeds in a suribachi has a meditative quality and this is why it is often made in Buddhist temples. Put the tofu mixture to one side.

Cut the thick stems from the shungiku and separate from the leaves as they take a little longer to blanch and cut them both into short 2 inch pieces.

Now blanch your shungiku stems first in boiling water for 15 seconds then add your leaves for a further ten seconds. Now plunge your blanched shungiku in cold water to prevent them from cooking further and to keep their colour then squeeze the water out.

Fold the shungiku into your tofu mixture I garnished mine with a few sesame seeds. Chill in the fridge. Keeps in a sealed container for a few days.

As I explained before this is perfect for stuffing into vegetables, here i steamed a patty pan summer squash and scooped out the seeds and filled it with the shira-ae.

Tofu Dengaku skewers 豆腐の田楽

Dengaku sauce, grilled tofu skewers covered with thick sweet and savory miso sauce. The sauce caramelises the surface of the tofu while the tofu remains tender inside.

Experiment with different kinds of Miso paste.

I like to use the organic range by “Hikari Miso”.

This simple glaze is called

Miso Dengaku (味噌田楽)

If using two different miso:

Combine x1 teaspoon of mirin, 1 tablespoon of miso, and 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar each in two separate saucepans alternatively double the ingredients.

Mix well and place on a gentle simmer on a very low heat for one minute, do not let the miso burn. It is then ready to use.

Take the other half of the tofu and cut into cubes. Place the tofu on a baking sheet and brush with oil on all sides. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes in a moderate oven. Remove from the oven and spoon a thick layer of miso dengaku onto the top of each piece of tofu. I like to add a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top.

Place under the grill for the glaze to caramelise, then add small skewers if you wish.

If making skewers it’s nice to alternate the miso pieces. For instance white miso, brown rice miso and red miso.

If you have any remaining glaze you can use this same miso glaze for  daikon, and konnyaku, it keeps well in a container in the fridge for a few weeks. It is absolutely delicious with eggplant and is also associated with chrysanthemum day.

I made small cubes suitable for this bento but you can just as easily do this with a whole block of tofu and make the cubes larger.

To celebrate the changing seasons why not make a meal with these or other seasonal produce maybe found locally at your market. I steamed some extra vegetables at the end to add to the bento.

As well as bento these dishes make perfect sides to a main meal or you could try creating a traditional Japanese kaiseki course, 八寸 (hassun) – a  sampler that represents one of the four seasons. This is the perfect way to try a little bit of everything in one meal.

I hope this will inspire you to make your own seasonal bento and try out Tsukurioki (batch cooking for yourself)