When you have finished your meal, you can eat your chopsticks.
A group in Kumamoto Prefecture promoting the wider use of tatami has developed “edible chopsticks” with the flavour of rush grass, a material used in the making of traditional Japanese mats, in cooperation with a confectionery maker.
The Kumamoto IGSA and Tatami Conference plans to begin selling the product later this month over the internet.
“We hope this will lead to a revival of tatami culture and the expansion of demand for rush grass produced in the prefecture” in southwestern Japan, said an official at the conference in charge of the product.
Each baked confectionery chopstick, made by Marushige Inc based in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, in central Japan, is 20cm long and 1cm thick, and tastes mildly sweet and bitter with a subtle favour of rush grass.
After being mixed with rush grass powder, dough made from wheat and eggs is baked slowly at a low temperature, making its texture similar to hardtack. Even if soaked in a soup, it hardly becomes soft.
Rush grass is said to have antibacterial effects, and in olden times it was grown in rice fields and taken as a herbal medicine, the conference said.
The conference also said that a pair of these edible chopsticks contains about the same amount of dietary fibre as a bowl of salad.
Farm ministry statistics show the Yatsushiro region in the southern part of Kumamoto Prefecture accounts for more than 90% of domestic production of rush grass.
Domestic rush grass, however, is facing weakening demand due to the spread of cheaper tatami made in China and tatami using chemical fibres, as well as the westernisation of lifestyles.
“I would like to propose a new use for rush grass,” said Manabu Fukushima, a 39-year-old attendee at the conference.
A set of 10 “edible chopsticks” will be sold for 1,930 yen ($17) on the website.
Original Article: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/1283406/edible-chopsticks-to-go-on-sale-in-japan