Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup Served in a Ribbed Cup Made by Hanako Nakazato

Hanako Nakazato Food and Craft

Autumn is here and that means butternut squash and apple season has arrived! As the temperature drops (even in Southern California), I start to crave hearty hot soups and so decided to make a delicious soup with these seasonal ingredients and share the recipe with you.

When serving a meal with several courses, I like to serve soups in small vessels so that the guests have plenty of appetite left for the rest of the dishes. Hanako’s ribbed cup (or shinogi sobachoko) carries about 6 oz of soup per cup and is the perfect ‘goldilocks’ solution: not too little and not too much.

Don’t forget to put on your favorite music before you start cooking!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Makes about 48 oz (about 8 x 6 oz servings)

Roasted butternut squash and apple soup served in a ribbed cup made by Hanako Nakazato

Ingredients

  • Butternut squash, diced                              2 lb (approximately 1 butternut quash)
  • Granny smith apple, diced                          8 oz (approximately 1 apple)
  • Yellow onion, small diced                           8 oz
  • Garlic, chopped                                              1 clove
  • Chicken stock                                                 1 quart + 1-2 cups
  • Nutmeg                                                           pinch
  • Olive oil                                                          2 tbsp and as needed
  • Bay leaf                                                           1 each
  • Salt and Pepper                                               TT
Squash and apple are in season

Garnish

  • Leftover bread, small dice                   ½ cup
  • Parsley, chopped fine                            2 tbsp
  • Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced      16 slices
Mise en Place
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. Dice the butternut squash and apple into even cubes and toss in olive oil. Roast in the oven until cooked and lightly browned.
  3. While the squash is roasting, chop the parsley and make the croutons. Use small diced bread and coat in olive oil or melted clarified butter and toast in the oven until nice and crunchy. Remove from oven.
  4. Remove the squash and apple when done, and turn down the oven heat to 300F.
  5. Slice the apple in single layer and lay flat on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put in the oven and roast until they become dry, crispy and lightly brown.
  6. Turn off the oven and place the cups inside to warm with residual heat.
  7. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and sweat the onion and garlic.

8. Add the roasted squash and apple and 1 quart of chicken stop. Bring to a simmer and add the bay leaf and cook until the squash and apple are soft.

9. Remove the bay leaf, puree the mixture in a blender, strain through a chinois.

10. Add the remaining chicken stock until the soup is at the preferred consistency, bring to a simmer, add nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.

11. Pour the soup in the ribbed cup and garnish with croutons and chopped parsley. Place the apple chips on the side.

The apple chips on the side is to silently tell the guest “there is apple in this soup”

Bon Appétit!

The portion is perfect when the guests feel they want a tiny bit more

 

Takami Yasuhiro: Master Bamboo Basket Weaver

Baskets Takami Yasuhiro

Baskets by Takami Yasuhiro in our shop ->

The most remarkable aspect of Takami Yasuhiro’s baskets is the stunning beauty of every bamboo splint woven into them. Their evenness and glow create lines that are refreshing to the eye, and give his work a unique air of grace.

Double Weave Tortoise Shell (or Kikko) Basket featuring bamboo segments on the rim by Takami Yasuhiro

I met Takami-san in May 2012 at a special exhibit of crafts in a Tokyo department store. It was sheer luck to be able to meet this soft-spoken artist in Tokyo, because he is usually based in Yufuin city, Oita prefecture, in the southern island of Kyushu. He has been using bamboo to make a wide range of items from small trays to large ceiling installations for over 30 years.

Takami Yasuhiro at his studio in Yuhuin, Oita
Photo courtesy of Chikuseikan

When I saw his work, I was enamored by the contemporary look of his baskets that cleverly featured bamboo segments. Usually the segment part of the bamboo is trimmed off because it makes it more difficult for the artist to weave the splint. I loved that Takami-san uses the segment in his work because this, in my view, is the most iconic and beautiful part of bamboo.

Triple splint bamboo tray
Photo Courtesy of Chikuseikan

 

Takami-san manually splits every bamboo splint (called Higo in Japanese) using traditional tools and methods. It is hard to imagine the amount of patience required in splitting and matching the width of the splints. Being adept at splitting bamboo is the most important skill for a basket weaver, because the beauty of each splint determines the appeal of the end product. It is said that this skill alone takes three hard years to master.

Master basket weaver Takami Yasuhiro splitting bamboo
Photo courtesy of Chikuseikan
Evenly cut splints
Photo Courtesy of Chikuseikan
Takami Yasuhiro’s tools used in bamboo basket weaving
Photo courtesy of Chikuseikan

When asked why he chose to become a bamboo basket weaver, Takami-san simply said that “I wanted to become a person that absorbed all aspects of bamboo”.  What I think he meant by this statement is that he deeply cherishes the qualities that makes bamboo special and has striven to emulate these attributes in his work: the importance of endurance, flexibility, strength, and continuing maturity.

Takami-san seems to have successfully achieved his long-sought goal after spending three decades in mastering this highly demanding craft. He passes on this gift to us in his spectacular work.