The Least Useful Guide to Fukuoka

Early summer is coming with new harvest of garlic cloves.

In fact, they are available from April, but as my tight-fisted usual, I have waited until the price became affordable. In the beginning of the season, one small bulb costs you JPY150, which is much lower than ones produced in Aomori prefecture (very north of Japan), usually JPY198,  though much bigger than the locally produced.

Now, 4 bulbs cost JPY300 at the generous green grocer’s I mentioned before (of course he threw some oranges into my shopping bag for free of charge).  The price usually will hit the bottom in late June (JPY1,000 for about 20 bulbs), but the current price looks agreeable.

New garlics taste more succulent or watery, according to your taste. And the skin is thicker than old stocks. They can be quick to get moulded, or bud, depending on the condition where they are stored.

So you are supposed to use up them as quick as possible while they are edible. When I get new garlic bulbs, I leave them in airy and sunny place to get them slightly drier and sterilized with sunlight for a day or two (Maybe I’m wrong. According to my quick research on this matter, no website specialised in garlic recommended this method), wrap them in old newspapers and keep in fridge. Probably they will last for a few weeks. But I don’t know to what extent they will deteriorate after that as I always finish them quite quickly.