The flowers of Konnyaku, Nursery

Konnyaku’s root (potato) and homemade konnyaku

The lady who has been making konnyaku all the time says it is difficult to make konnyaku if the potato has smaller than 7 or 8 inches, because the potato skin is very hard, and the skin have to be pilled off and then grate it. It is too much work to make konnyaku. First of all it is very hard to make the potato larger, so Hiroko cannot make konnyaku ever.

The Konnyaku lady gave Hiroko this bud of konnyaku flower in the early spring. She said the flower will make very stinky smell. Hiroko had been wondering what was going on.

Then, look! The konnyaku flower was bloomed. Dark purple colored flower was bloomed and it wasn’t smelly.


In the image of Google Japan there are so many konnyaku flower photo and pictures. Hiroko borrowed the above two pictures. The konnyaku flower in the left side photo is called a “ monster konnyaku flower” which is twice as taller than a man. The right side one seems normal size konnyaku flowers. Hiroko’s flower should be opened more.


Waiting for the flower be withered, and then plating the potato in the ground, a new bud will sprout again, said the Konnyaku lady.

There is no bud coming out from the potato which had flower, but the potato from last year has been growing the bud.
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Konnyaku
The following explanation about Konnyaku is posted on the web-site
http://www.shakespeare-w.com/english/konnyaku/whatis.html. Please go to the web-site for further interesting information about Konnyaku.
Konnyaku is a Japanese traditional food.
Konnyaku is a traditional Japanese jelly-like health food made from a kind of potato called "Konnyaku potato" and calcium hydroxide or oxide calcium extracted from eggshells. The Konnyaku potato is native to Indonesia and is a kind of herbaceous perennial plant called "Amorphophallus Konjac"(K. Koch). Konnyaku potatoes are cultivated for food only in Japan, but wild forms grow naturally in Southeast Asia and China.
We Japanese have been eating it over 1500 years.
It was originally introduced to Japan as a medicine in the sixth century and has been eaten for almost 1500 years in Japan. It is a totally natural food. Ninety seven percent of Konnyaku is water and three percent is Glucomannan, or dietary fibre. It is also rich in minerals and very low in calories.
Full of dietary fibre
Glucomannan is a dietary fibre and it is extremely difficult for humans to digest. Therefore, Konnyaku usually just goes through your body and sweeps your intestines. That is why it has been regarded as a no calorie food for a long time in Japan. Konnyaku does have calories, however, the calories would be so few in the normal quantities that they are negligible in number.
Konnyaku is a marvellous health food
It does not have fat, it is rich in dietary fibre and is low in calories. Moreover, it has recently been found that it normalises the level of cholesterol, prevents high blood pressure and normalises the level of sugar in the blood. Because of these scientific findings, it has been perceived as a excellent health food in Japan.

There are several Japanese saying with the word of “Konnyaku”:

-Those who are haughty at own home but weak in outside has been called “Konnyaku Enma (the Judge of Hell)” – “A lion at home and a mouse abroad”
-The things hard to be completed called “Built a stone wall with Konnyaku”

From the image of Konnyaku as “soft” and “flabby” use in the baseball terms such as
-“Konnyaku Daho (The way of hitting)”
-“Konnyaku Toho (The way of pitching)”
-“Konnyaku Senpo (The strategy)”

These sayings are posted at Wikipedia http-://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ in Japanese