Kinome leaves

木の芽

Kinome leaves provide a wonderful minty flavor to culinary dishes with lingering heat.  To release their perfume, the leaves need to be chewed, or broken up somehow, otherwise you won’t taste them at all.  This farm-fresh crop comes as a cluster of small, serrated edible leaves, shiny and deep green in hue, and a tender texture. These deliciously edible leaves are actually a Japanese herb from the prickly ash/Szechuan peppercorn tree.  The flavor of the leaves is powerful, but delicate at the same time.