Konbu growing in the sea

Report on the inaugural Konbu Summit held on Rebun Island, Hokkaido, Japan on 4 July 2007

In Japan, the ‘konbu road’ is the name given to the ancient trading route by which the umami-rich sea vegetable konbu (kelp) was transported from Hokkaido in the north to the capital Kyoto. This unique summit revived the links between these two important culinary centres.

The perfect time and place

Konbu plays an extremely important role in Japanese cuisine thanks to the umami taste provided by its high levels of naturally occurring glutamate, particularly in the stock dashi, which is the basis of so many of the country's quintessential dishes. Indeed, it was the deliciousness of his konbu stock that led Professor Kikunae Ikeda to discover the umami taste in 1908. Much of the konbu used in Japan, and indeed increasingly elsewhere around the world, is harvested off the cool waters of Hokkaido, and July is the main harvesting period.

It therefore seemed fitting that the first ever Konbu summit, bringing together konbu harvesters, wholesalers and consumers, should take place in July on the island of Rebun, where the highly prized rishiri variety of konbu is gathered, most famously on Kafuka beach.

A source of pure glutamate

Event chair, Ms. Kumiko Ninomiya

The event was chaired by Ms. Kumiko Ninomiya of the Umami Information Center, who kicked off the seminar by giving a keynote speech on umami as the fifth basic taste that human beings recognize. In particular, she discussed recent research on the amino acid content of dashi made by top traditional Kyoto restaurants, which is relevant because glutamate is one of the amino acids; the building blocks of protein that often impart distinctive tastes to food.

A breakdown analysis of the dashi, along with chicken stock and the Chinese stock tang, showed that all three had high levels of glutamate. What distinguished the dashi in particular, however, was the fact that apart from glutamate it contained very low levels of other amino acids, which may themselves add other tastes to a dish. This ensures that dashi is adept at drawing out the flavours of other ingredients in a dish, which is one of the most essential and intrinsic aspects of Japanese cuisine.

A growing demand for konbu

Mr. Takashi Okui

Harvested konbu being dried on the beach

The panel discussion

Ms. Ninomiya also emphasized to the group that the term umami is currently becoming more and more recognized internationally, and is attracting attention from chefs and researchers around the world. For example, there is currently a tendency in French cuisine for some chefs to reduce the amount of butter and cream they use in their cooking and for these chefs the glutamate rich konbu is becoming increasingly important as an enriching and taste-enhancing ingredient.

The changes outlined by Ms. Ninomiya present an exciting opportunity for the konbu industry in Hokkaido, which was represented at the summit by Mr. Takashi Okui, President of Okui Kaiseido, a supplier of top quality konbu. In his keynote speech, Mr. Okui outlined the role of konbu in Japanese culinary history since the Nara period (710-784).

He also pointed out that, just like in the case of wine grapes, the area in which konbu is harvested can have a considerable effect on its quality. (You can read more on this topic by reading Mr. Okui's article on the subject here). He emphasized that with this in mind, the konbu harvested from Kafuka beach on the island of Rebun has long been renowned for its high quality. He also expressed the importance of disseminating accurate information on konbu as one of Japan 's most traditional foods in the context
of the increasing globalization of food.

Konbu conversation

For the remainder of the summit Ms. Ninomiya chaired a panel discussion. The seven strong panel included Mr. Haruji Ukai of the Japanese Culinary Academy, representing consumers of konbu, and Mr. Daisuke Kadokawa of the Kyoto City Board of Education, who both opined that it was important to educate youngsters about authentic konbu and konbu stock, both of which are essential parts of Japanese cuisine, and in turn to encourage the use of konbu in cooking. Other panelists included Mr. Okui, as well as Mr. Toru Ono, mayor of the town of Rebun; Mr. Suguru Izumi, chairman of the Kafuka Fishermen’s Cooperative and Mr. Kitaro Setogawa, chairman of the Funadomari Sea Fishermen's Cooperative.

Konbu joint declaration

With a view to holding a second such summit, all participants affirmed their commitment to actively disseminating information on konbu to everyone in a Konbu Summit 2007 in Rebun Island Joint Declaration (Japanese below). There was a good deal of lively interaction between producers, wholesalers and consumers at the reception held after the summit.

Here, a number of exciting ideas were explored, including the possibility of giving schoolchildren from Rebun on their annual excursion to Kyoto an opportunity to see how konbu from their island is used in traditional cooking, as well as organising konbu study tours to Rebun for representatives of Kyoto 's finest restaurants. Both of which suggest that there will be a lot more traffic on the historical ‘konbu road' in the near future.

A copy of the declaration (click to enlarge)

Event participants

Okui Kaiseido Ltd. (Japanese only): http://www.konbu.co.jp/
Rebun Island (Japanese only): http://www.dosanko.co.jp/rebun/
The Japanese Culinary Academy: http://culinary-academy.jp/eng/index.html