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There are many shapes of vegetable cutter in Japan. They are similar to cookie cutter. Many plants and animals are used for vegetable cutter as the motif. Their shapes are used for expressing seasons or special occasions in the dishes. It’s important to express seasons when we cook washoku (traditional Japanese dishes). Cut vegetables tell us the visit of a season at the time of a meal.
1, Spring
In Japan, many people call Sakura (cherry blossoms) to their mind. In addition, butterfly and bush warbler are used as spring motifs.
2, Summer
The weather warmer and summer is here, we use summer motif like bamboo, green leaves, gourd, plover, sweet fish, turtle, etc..
3, Autumn
The crop and the color of autumn are expressed by the shapes of ginkgo leaf, maple leaves, mushrooms, chestnuts, bellflower, etc..
4, Winter
We sometimes use the auspicious shapes for the New year’s dish, for example, ume (Japanese apricot blossoms), pine tree, etc.
Cut vegetables look beautiful and cute, so you can use them for Bento (lunch box), soup, and steamed dish, ect. You can also use them for many types of foods. Enjoy!
