Effective, Delicious Ways to Eat Fermented Foods and Vegetables: Ogata Minato, the Youngest-Ever Professional Vegetable Sommelier, Explains the Attractions of Japanese Vegetables + Fermentation + Japanese Cuisine

Ogata Minato became the youngest-ever Professional Vegetable Sommelier at the age of 10. Now in high school, he grows vegetables in his family’s vegetable garden while communicating information through multiple channels about the attractions of vegetables from all over Japan.

“I love eating as well as washoku [Japanese cuisine] and Japanese fermented seasonings,” says Ogata, who we asked to tell us how he got into his passion, new possibilities for vegetables, and his recommendations for eating fermented foods and vegetables to effortlessly overcome vegetable deficits in your diet. He also talks about his enthusiasm as a member of the support team for the Ikuze! Nippon no Washoku [Viva Japanese Cuisine!] campaign that celebrated the 10th anniversary of washoku being selected to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.

Seeking out as yet unknown traditional Japanese vegetables

Ogata describes himself as a huge foodie. At a very young age, he became aware of the particular deliciousness of vegetables.
“I was very curious to find and eat even more delicious vegetables, so I began seeking out traditional vegetables from all over the country. My parents took me to many places, but I would decide where we would travel to based on what vegetables I wanted to try. (laughs)”

When just in Grade 1, he rented a nearby plot of land and started growing and harvesting his own vegetables. “The vegetables sold at supermarkets basically only have the parts you eat remaining. I started gardening because I wanted to see what the leaves and flowers of the plants looked like.”

As he gained more knowledge and experience, he took and passed the Nihon Nogyo Kentei [Japan Agriculture Certification] exam at the recommendation of an instructor at his gardening plot. “After that, I got into accumulating various certifications. My parents told me about the Vegetable Sommelier certification, so I set my sights on getting it.” Ogata broke the previous record for the youngest person to obtain the certification by a wide margin, becoming a Vegetable Sommelier at the age of eight. Then at the age of 10, he earned the more difficult title of Professional Vegetable Sommelier.

As a veggie pro, Ogata is now sought out by buyers for department stores and other stores that sell uncommon vegetables from various parts of Japan for his input on purchases. Even when he is on the other side of the table, communicating the appeal of vegetables through the media and lectures, his focus remains unchanged: “I want to eat more delicious vegetables, and I want to know more about them”.

“The most important thing is to get people to want to try the vegetables I talk about. It’s important, of course, to explain the nutritional value of vegetables, but I know from personal experience that this alone won’t hold people’s interest. I want to provide more practical suggestions based on my own life, such as ‘vegetables like these are delicious too’ or ‘they taste better when eaten like this’.”

Growing vegetables in your own garden is the best way to learn

Ogata began constructing his own vegetable garden in his family’s yard in Grade 6 and in Grade 7 he relocated his plants from the neighborhood plot to his garden and began raising vegetables there. He grows as many as 20 types of vegetables at any given time.

“Over the six years that I rented that plot, the instructors taught me how to raise vegetables from scratch, so I had a solid grasp of the basics. In my vegetable garden, I want to try growing the varieties that personally intrigue me. I have three vegetable beds in total, and I add rice bran, lime, and other ingredients as fertilizers to the soil.”

In this photo, the fava beans in the front bed are coming up well. Ogata plans to plant tomatoes in the bed behind him. Onions are planted in the bed at the back covered by a net. Spinach plants line the flowerbed on the right. “I’m busier now that I’m in high school, so I’ve started growing vegetables that don’t require a lot of attention.”

Ogata grows the types of vegetables he wants to try eating. “A recent discovery that surprised me by both its appearance and taste was oiwai corn [celebration corn], a reddish-purple corn. It’s a new variety of corn developed through selective breeding. Oiwai corn is rich in anthocyanins, and its seeds, leaves, and stalks, not to mention its kernels, are all reddish-purple. It’s sweet and can be eaten raw. When boiled, it takes on a delicious chewy texture.”

Another vegetable that made a big impression on him was Sapporo taikyuu cabbage, a large cabbage that can grow to weigh as much as 20 kilograms. “The Sapporo taikyuu cabbage I grew only reached two kilograms. Ideally, you want to grow such local produce in their native conditions, including the climate, wind conditions, soil conditions, and whatnot. Having said that, the largest Sakurajima radish, which comes from Sakurajima in Kagoshima, that holds the Guinness World Record was grown by a farmer in Miura in Kanagawa, a long way from Sakurajima. When I tried growing the radish myself, I was even more impressed by that farmer’s skill.”

Ogata always starts from seeds and grows his own seedlings. For more unusual traditional vegetables, he sources seeds from regional JA seed distributors or from seed distributors that specialize in traditional vegetables.

Dried vegetables will rescue our future diets

One application of vegetables that Ogata is currently focused on is dried vegetables. It’s astonishing that dried vegetables could be the key that unlocks solutions to many present-day challenges, including improving eating habits, the SDGs, and disaster preparedness.

“You can easily dry leftover vegetables by laying them out in the sun. This is an excellent way to eliminate food loss, and if you stock up on them, you can quickly add a variety of vegetables to your cooking. Dried vegetables are also great because they can be used in meals in times of disasters or emergencies when vegetables are hard to come by and malnutrition is a real concern.”

Drying vegetables removes much of their moisture content, thereby concentrating their flavors and increasing their nutritive value. “Bean sprouts take on a very crispy texture when dried, and mushrooms and cucumbers firm up deliciously. You can cook dried vegetables in the same way you would cook fresh vegetables by reconstituting them in cool or hot water. They are also real time-savers, since you don’t have to spend as much time peeling and cutting the vegetables or simmering them.”

Dried vegetables should be stored in separate sealed bags by type. Fully dried vegetables can be stored at room temperature, but partially raw vegetables such as Chinese cabbage should be stored in the refrigerator.

Communicating the wonder of Japanese vegetables + fermentation + Japanese cuisine

Ogata wants to enjoy the authentic tastes of vegetables with as little bother as possible. He has a sophisticated palate that can discriminate between the tastes of dozens of varieties. Yet, he has been taken with simple Japanese cuisine since he was young, just like with vegetables.

“I find it interesting that there is such a variety of fermented foods all over Japan, and I like to taste and compare them. I like both vinegar and mirin rice wine, but I’m most interested in miso. If I spot a miso counter in a shop or department store, I will always stop to sample their offerings. I especially like white miso, which is delicious when you use it to marinate vegetables, meat, or fish.”

Ogata always has a variety of miso products on hand in his refrigerator and uses them according to the ingredients he is cooking. The sealed container contains white miso.

Ogata’s recommended miso soup with dried vegetables: An easy and delicious way to get your vegetables while reducing salt intake

We asked Ogata for an effective way to eat the vegetables and fermented foods he loves, and he recommended miso soup with dried vegetables. Boil water, add your preferred dried vegetables directly in the pot and when they have sufficiently rehydrated, dissolve some miso, and you’re finished.

“It’s super simple. The soup is very tasty even without dashi stock because the dried vegetables release so much rich umami flavor. This also lowers the amount of salt in the soup. Even in the Tohoku region, where people tend to prefer strong flavors, people are now trying out dried-vegetable miso soup to reduce their salt intake.”

Ogata adds eight types of vegetables into the miso soup, including burdock root, carrot, Chinese cabbage, and mushrooms. The sweetness and umami released from the dried vegetables go really well with the dry-tasting Sendai miso.

“One of the many pluses of dried vegetables is they make it easy to get a wide variety and amount of vegetables, which helps alleviate the lack of vegetables in many people’s diets.”

The many varieties of dried vegetables make this a satisfying and fun-to-eat dish

Serving on the support team for the Ikuze! Nippon no Washoku campaign that celebrated the 10th anniversary of washoku’s inclusion on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list

Washoku was added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage in December 2013. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of its inclusion, the Ikuze! Nippon no Washoku campaign was rolled out. Ogata was selected to the team of washoku supporters to tell the next generation about the attractions of washoku, a food culture that Japanese people are rightly proud of.

“It’s a shame that we have such a wonderful food culture in our own country, and yet the reality is people are moving away from washoku. Washoku has this stuffy, inaccessible image, but the truth is that sushi and tempura were both fast foods in the Edo period (1603 to 1868). Even if it is hard to have washoku for every meal, I would like it to be a commonplace option for people. I want to convey the goodness of washoku so young people like me will accept it without feeling pressured into liking it.”