Photo= Chef Katsumoto promotes "Kyo-to-na" ohitashi and tempura, as well as "Kyo no Hanamachi Myoga" hand-shaped sushi (Kyo-Suzaku Sushi-Ichiba, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto)

To promote newly-developed vegetables of Kyoto, special menus using "Kyo-to-na," or red pepper plants which have been improved as leafy vegetables, are offered by the sushi restaurant "Kyo-Suzaku Sushi-Ichiba" located in the first market of Kyoto Municipal Central Wholesale Market in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto. Visitors enjoy the simple taste of dishes using "Kyo-to-na" such as tempura and "ohitashi," or boiled greens dressed in soy sauce.

"Kyo-to-na" is red pepper that has an edible leaf, which was jointly developed by Kyoto City and Kyoto University in 2003 as a leafy green for the summer season and has been produced in the Keihoku area in Ukyo Ward, Kyoto, and other places. Sushi-Ichiba run by "Fu suhi seikatsu eisei dogyo kumiai," or Kyoto Prefecture sushi environmental health trade organization, has cooperated with the city that works on in its popularization.

The restaurant offers the limited number of "ohitashi" taste-test samples and also serves fried "Kyo-to-na" to customers who order tempura. The store collects customers' reviews through a questionnaire and gives cotton towels to respondents selected in a drawing.

Toshihiko Katsumoto, the master chef, said, expectantly, "Kyo-to-na is rich in nutrients. I hope for Sushi-Ichiba to be the source of Kyo-to-na and that it becomes widespread." The Kyo-to-na menu was offered until September 22. Hand-shaped sushi with "Kyo no Hanamachi Myoga," a Japanese ginger grown in Kyoto, is being served between September 23 and 29.