I saw this on my Facebook feed, posted by one of our forum members who does not hang out here much these days - maple leaf tempura. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2415233862112366
@wcutler, this was on a program called James May in Japan and I thought when I saw it that although I love maples, I think I would give this a miss. !!!!! But everyone has different tastes.
Matt and Tim Nichols of Mr Maple had a TV program made of them in Japan, Momiji Tempura was one of the high jinx they got up to. It was pretty cute. FWIW I tried it in a market, momiji leaves are pretty ubiquitous in market displays and of course there's lots of snacky foods, usually delicious if sometimes a bit strange to our western eyes. The maple tempura tasted a little sweet, but otherwise like fried dough, with no hint of maple-ness to me. Might have just been the vendor of course. "Momiji" means Japanese Maple, not tempura AFAIK.
I also saw a feed advertising maple leaf tea.You have to admit you get to know the faintly sweet smell of lots of maples grouped together so I assume they've got some flavour..I've tried Chinese Chrysanthemum tea so wouldn't rule it out 'til I've tried it....but.., Hmm I'm not sure.
From what I remember on the program I watched, is that the batter mix is sweetened, sugar can disguise a lot of tastes. As Mary Poppins once sung " A spoon full of sugar helps the ........... lol. They do look very pretty laid out on a plate though.
Native Americans made a flour from dried maple seed, it was ground and soaked to remove the bitter taste. Still it is meant to be a good source of nourishment. Something that can't be said for the tempura, perhaps! Otherwise an important country fact is that Red Maple (A. rubrum) are very poisonous to horses. I don't know about humans but haven't tried eating them either. ;) @Houzi a real pleasure to see you. Hope you've been well.
Thanks @Emery,you too.Don't think I'll be trying any maple food just yet but who knows...maybe someone will make it trendy and become another dubious 'superfood' ha. A lot of new faces on here now.I wonder if some of the old faces are still on the scene...Mr.Shep,Charlie,Roebuck to mention a few.I've broadened my horizon away from maples now,it was getting ridiculous,too many maples in my tiny garden.I'm still into propagating but not doing maples anymore.Still got too many,still luv'em but the numbers have dwindled.I'd like to say I hope everyone's coping ok and still happy&healthy.Pleased to see the forum's still as enthusiastic as ever!
Some are, Roebuk is here a bit, and every now and again some of the old names turn up. Charlie is still in business but not active here. So it goes always on the groups! You missed the obvious solution to your maple addiction: expand vertically! Haha. Glad to hear you're still propagating. All the best! -E
A very good point raised about horses on here by Emery is very true. Consumption of wilted or dried red maple tree (Acer rubrum) leaves can be toxic to horses because they can cause destruction to the red blood cells, which limits their oxygen carrying capacity. Having been a horse owner and paranoid about vet bills, anything that could cause my lad a health issue was removed very quickly. I was also very very fond of him, so it wasn't just financial. So no Acer Rubrum by paddocks!!!!
Never heard of that before, it's good to know (though I don't have horses). About Maple Leaf Tempura : I did a quick search and I found a recipe using fresh leaves. Obviously not by a Japanese. Had I known before, I would have experimented for a colleague's retirement "apéro" tomorrow. But there will be other occasions in September and October. Funny how many people my generation are retiring these days... ^_^
