Daikon isshiki ryōri himitsubako 大根一式料理秘密箱 [Comprehensive Secret Digest of Exceptional Radish Dishes]

Illus. in the text. 29.5 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. blue semi-stiff wrappers, orig. block-printed title label on upper cover (label flaked), new stitching. Kyoto: Nishimura Ichi'uemon et al., Edo, Osaka, & Ishū: colophon dated 1785.



First edition of one of the earliest Japanese books on the daikon radish, with instructions on 20 ways to cut the vegetable and 30 ways to cook it. Little is known about Kidodō, but he may have learned his trade under the Shijo School and worked as a professional restaurant chef in Kyoto. This book is rare, with no copy in WorldCat.


In Kidodō's Preface, he writes that the daikon, of which there were many varieties (described here), was inexpensive and readily available to all social classes for enjoyment. Its uses in the kitchen were limitless: when raw and fresh, it could be employed in certain ways to enjoy its crisp texture, and when cooked, it produced entirely different results and pleasures. Its possibilities ranged from being used in highly sophisticated dishes for elaborate banquets to recipes for everyday meals. The author stresses its chameleon-like quality.


Of the 50 ways to use daikon, the first 20 involve instructions on cutting the vegetable in ways to enhance flavors and to make shapes resembling flowers and other traditional ornaments. The 30 recipes, from many regions of Japan, include various techniques: braising, frying (for tempura), grilling, drying, pickling, etc. Some of the recipes follow the tradition of the cuisine of Buddhist priests and the tea ceremony master Sen no Rikyū.


Throughout the text, there are woodcut vignettes depicting shapes of prepared daikon, a slicer to julienne daikon, etc.


Kidodō wrote another book on the daikon - part of the popular "Hundred Tricks" series - which appeared in the same year.


Fine copy.



References


Eric C. Rath, Food and Fantasy in Early Modern Japan (University of California Press: 2010), pp. 176-81.