This time, we will handle Vietnamese sugar cane.
Do you usually see sugar cane?
I can't even see it in the Kanto area where I live. I think many people don't know how to eat it in the first place. Sugar is a powder that is sold and used as a seasoning. In general, I think it's more of a seasoning than a food. However, if you have ever eaten raw sugar cane, you will know its fruitiness. It has more water than it looks, and it's sweet and juicy.
Well, sugar cane happened to be in the supermarket today. Things from Vietnam. It's rare.
My two sons (10 and 6 years old) had never eaten this sugar cane. So I want them to eat it.
It's a perfect subject for food education. What is the sugar you always eat? I'm glad if sons are interested in it. And let them experience it. I think it is an important thing to know the origin of things.
Then one more. I'm also interested in sugar cane made in Vietnam. What does it taste like? Of course, it will be raw. Peel and suck, that's it.
Let's start!
Sugar cane, using this time
It is a sugar cane from Vietnam. Compared to the one in Okinawa, it's brown, which is closer to black. I imagine something blue like bamboo when it is made in Okinawa. (Because I am not familiar with this, it is an image of an individual)
Weight & Length & Diameter:
①376g & 41cm & 3.7cm
②208g & 41cm & 2.5cm
Price：Sum of ①② : 200yen（cheap!）
To be honest, I think the reason why it is so cheap is because it is an unsold item. Even if sugar cane is sold in the Kanto region, it seems that few people buy it because it is too unfamiliar.
By the way, the sugar cane production areas in Japan are ranked as follows.
1st Okinawa prefecture
2nd Kagoshima prefecture
It has almost 100% share in these two tropical prefectures. Isn't this exactly what you imagined?
Looking further at the world...
1st Brazil
2nd India
・
・
・
24th Japan
1st place Brazil's production is about 50 times that of Japan. This is also within the expected range, isn't it? The low sugar consumption of Japanese is also considered to be a major factor. It is said that Japanese food = healthy.
Return the story.
How to handle sugar cane
First of all, I will peel it off. If you have strong teeth and are accustomed to it, you will probably bite and peel it off. But here, I use kitchen knives.
Put the knife in the sugar cane upright and peel it from top to bottom.
It is very dangerous to put your hands under the knife. In this way, put one hand on the knife and cut the skin.
After peeling the skin, I cut it into pieces that are easy to eat, but this "joint" becomes a hard part, so I will remove it.
I will cut off the joints.
Please be careful as this direction is also hard. I switched to a Deba knife, it was quite easy to do. Japanese Deba knife is useful in such a place.
I removed joints and cut them.
All you have to do is cut it into pieces that are easy to eat. If you cut along the fiber, you can easily cut it as it tears.
Something like this.
The way to eat sugar cane is to chew it and suck in sweet juice. You can't eat the fiber that remains in your mouth, so throw it away.
Very sweet. This is a fruit. I felt this sugar cane was close to the flavor of apples.
My two sons had their first experience with sugar cane. They are surprised that this sugar cane is the raw material for sugar. Also, they were curious about this mysterious way of handling and eating, which is not found anywhere else, and watched the way of handling in the kitchen. They were delighted.
Summary
This time, I handled sugar cane from Vietnam. You may not have a chance to get sugar cane, but I felt that it was a good food education material for children. It's very interesting that sugar that you usually eat is made from such plants. It is an ingredient that you want to experience once in a lifetime!
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