Here we are with the first recipe I tried in my Shojin cuisine cookbook. Because we had plenty of sansho in the garden I decided to try this super simple recipe, that was perfect to eat with plain white rice and some raw vegetables and miso.  Usually I use the leaves of sansho or kinome a lot but so far I never used the fruits. I buy them. But we had many fruits and I thought it was really time for me to use them since that was the all point of having a sansho shrub in our garden. And this recipe literally took 5 min to prepare and 15min to cook, which makes it perfect for a busy day at work.
All you need is dry konbu that you cut in little squares, fresh sansho (the seeds not the leaves) if possible but canned or packed one can do, soya sauce and sake. In a pan you put the konbu and sansho, add 1 tbs of sake and one of soya sauce, and one of water if you have fresh sansho (to remove the bitterness it’s better), then simmer under cover at low heat until most of the liquid has disappeared. It’s ready! You can serve hot or cold, perfect with rice or as a snack with a drink.. The taste is quite strong so it’s not a main dish, right!?