scouring; washing vegetables in lye
Refers to the traditional process of washing vegetables (especially wild plants) in water mixed with wood ash (lye) to remove bitterness or harshness. Also used more generally for scouring or cleaning with ash-based solutions.
Wild vegetables are scoured with lye before cooking.
Scouring with lye removes the harshness from vegetables.
Standard kanji spelling.
Mixed kana-kanji spelling.
Irregular kanji usage.
Compound of 灰汁 (aku, 'lye, harshness') and 洗い (arai, 'washing').