Nara prefecture

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Nara Prefecture

Nara Prefecture (奈良県, Nara-ken) is a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.

It is certain that a political force established at the foot of Mount Miwa in the east of Nara Basin, seeking unification of most parts in Japan from the third century until the fourth century, though the process was not well documented. At the dawn of history, Yamato was clearly the political center of Japan.

Ancient capitals of Japan were built on the land of Nara, namely Asuka-kyō, Fujiwara-kyō (694–710) and Heijō-kyō (most of 710–784). The capital cities of Fujiwara and Heijō are believed to have been modeled after Chinese capitals at the time, incorporating grid layout patterns. The royal court also established relations with Sui and then Tang Dynasty China and sent students to the Middle Kingdom to learn high civilization. By 7th century, Nara accepted the many immigrants including refugees of Baekje who had escaped from war disturbances of the southern part of the Korean peninsula. The first high civilization with royal patronage of Buddhism flourished in today's Nara city (710–784 AD).

Nara Prefecture is landlocked.
The climate of Nara Prefecture is overall warm, while there are important differences between the north-western basin area and the rest of the prefecture, that is, in the mountains.
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Nara is famed for its Kaki persimmon. Strawberry and tea are some other popular products of the prefecture, while rice and vegetables, including spinach, tomato, eggplants and others are the dominant in terms of amount of production.
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Eight temples, shrines and ruins in Nara, specifically Tōdai-ji, Saidai-ji, Kōfuku-ji, Kasuga Shrine, Gangō-ji, Yakushi-ji, Tōshōdai-ji and Heijō Palace Remains, together with Kasugayama Primeval Forest, collectively form "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tame deer roam through the town, especially in Nara Park. These deer might not be considered "tame" should the visitor not have any "shika sembei - Deer Biscuits" when they see them.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA ! about Nara City



Mount Miwa (三輪山, Miwa-yama, Miwayama)
Mount Mimoro (三諸山, Mimoro-yama)
. Mount Miwa
Shrine Omiwa Jinja 大三輪神社


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Dishes from Nara 奈良の郷土料理


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Asukanabe 飛鳥鍋 hodgepodge from Asuka
Since the year 1400, when Buddhist monks brought the knowledge from China.
Monks considered the milk used here as a kind of medicine to keep healthy in the winter months.
Broth of soy milk or milk with chicken and vegetables. The chicken and vegetables are dipped into beaten eggs before you eat them, like Sukiyaki.


chagayu 大和の茶がゆ　rice gruel cooked with tea.
Started in the year 1200 at the hall Nigatsudo at temple Todai-ji, as a simple food for the monks during the O-Mizutori Ceremony.
Now they say
大和の朝は茶がゆで明ける - chagayu
The morning in Yamato starts with a bowl of rice gruel boiled with green tea.
chagayu is used in a variety of cooking, such as Chagayu Kaiseki and Chagayu Bento. It is a simple dish, made of rice, water and tea such as Hojicha or roast tea. As simple as it is, Chagayu is quite popular in Nara due to its refreshing flavor and the way it slips easily down the throat.
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..... kakimochi iri chagayu かき餅入り茶粥 with kakimochi rice cakes
In summer, this is eaten cold.
Hizen chagayu 肥前茶粥 rice porridge from Hizen Saga prefecture
Iwakuni chagayu 岩国茶がゆ rice gruel from Iwakuni Yamaguchi prefecture
Chagayu from Wakayama, Kumano mountains
Tee-Reisbrei


侘びて澄め月侘斎が奈良茶歌
wabite sume tsuki wabisai ga Naracha uta
. Matsuo Basho, 奈良茶 Naracha rice gruel and Haikai .


chahan, chameshi 茶飯 / 大和茶飯 rice boiled with tea and soy beans
Nara chahan 奈良茶飯
Started in the temples Todai-Ji and Kofuku-Ji, when they added Nibancha (the second brew) with salt to boil rice and beans. Also for the O-Mizutori ceremony.
It is also served now at haiku meetings in Nara. Sometimes black beans are used to boil.
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dekomawashi
dengaku 田楽 grilled vegetables with miso paste
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The round ones with radish are also called dekomawashi でこまわし, remembering the round head of bunraku puppets, in the area of Yoshino 吉野地域. Eaten at New Year.
WASHOKU
Dengaku dishes and history



haggeshoomochi 小麦餅（はげっしょう餅） mochi from wheat flour
They are eaten on the day 10 days after the summer equinox, a day called hangeshoo （はんげしょう）半夏生. In the Nara plain, this was a time just after the rice planting, and there was rest to celebrate. Some areas also make it fore the summer festival in July.



. inoko mochi 猪子餅, 亥の子餅
ricecakes in the shape of little wild boars


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KAKI 柿 persimmons

kaki no hazushi かきの葉ずし/柿の葉 葉寿司 sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves
Kakinoha zushi (kakinoha sushi) is one of Nara's delicacies, made of rice seasoned with vinegar and slices of salmon or salted mackerel on top, formed in the shape of a cube, and wrapped with a "kakinoha" or persimmon leaf. Persimmon leaves contain tannin which acts as a natural antibacterial agent. They also contain vitamin C and can help to control high blood pressure. The mackerel used in this food is prepared according to a special method which is kept secret by the people who make it. This is why kakinoha zushi is only available in Nara.
Sushi-Reis umwickelt mit Persimonen-Blättern

kaki namasu 柿なます salad with persimmons
With radish, carrots for an auspicious color effect, and dried persimmons. Especially prepared for the New Year ceremonies in Nara.
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..... Yamato no tsurushigaki 大和のつるし柿
hanging persimmons from Yamato, they are hung up to dry as winter provisions.

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An old poem says



色は黒いが味みておくれ、味は大和のつるし柿
iro wa kuroi ga ajimite okure
aji wa Yamato no tsurushigaki

the color is black but just try them -
they taste like dried persimmons from Yamato !



. WASHOKU
kushigaki 串柿 ( くしがき) dried persimmons on a stick 　
and more about persimmons. Persimonen.


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kashiwa no sukiyaki かしわのすき焼き sukiyaki with chicken
In Memory of Sugaware Michizane on his death day in the end of october, at the shrine in his honor. He is known as the protector of cattle, so instead of using beef for the dish chicken (kashiwa) is used and eaten with all parishioners.
Also eaten on other festive days.
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konnyaku, kushi konnyaku 串こんにゃく Konjak on skewers
The mountain regions of Yamato Koogen 大和高原 and in the east and south of it, konnyaku roots Konjak are grown.
Devil's-tongue (konnyaku 蒟蒻)


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Yoshino Kuzu from Kurokawa Honke


kuzu ryoori 葛料理 dishes made from arrowroot starch
The root of "kuzu", a plant from the legume family, Pueraria thunbergiana, can be crushed and refined to make starch. This starch is then used to make Kuzu Ryori. Kuzukiri is a semitransparent noodle made from Kuzu; it has a smooth texture and is delicious. Kuzu can also be used as an ingredient in various dishes; for example adding it to tofu or rice cake, makes them chewy and enhances the flavor.
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Pfeilwurzel.


. . gomadoofu, goma toofu ごま豆腐 tofu made with sesame paste
... kuzu-iri goma doofu 葛入胡麻豆腐 with arrowroot starch
In Yoshino, kuzuku 葛粉 starch of arrowroot is often used.
kuzu くず【国栖／国巣／国樔】 is also the name of a group of people living in Yoshino woods, singing special songs.
kuzu from Yoshino forests "Yoshino kuzu" 吉野葛 is very famous.


Dishes made from Yoshino Kuzu
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manyoogayu 万葉粥 rice gruel a la Manyo-shu
Served at the great shrine Kasuga Taisha
With different vegetables every month, according to the poems of the Manyo-Shu　万葉集 poetry collection of the Heian period.
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Kasuga Taisha 春日大社 was built at the same time as the capital of Nara. It is dedicated to the deity responsible for the protection of the city. Kasuga Taisha was also the tutelary shrine of the Fujiwara clan, Japan's most powerful family during most of the Nara and Heian Period.
. Kasuga Shrine 春日大社 Kasuga-taisha .

Hints of love fill the air at Nara's Manyo festival
Japan's oldest market in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, will host the Manyo Matsuri on Sept. 8, a festival to commemorate the market and the region's (central Nara Prefecture) ancient culture.

One side of the Hatsuse River used to be the location of an old road that led to the village of Asuka, which was also the capital city of the region during the Asuka Period (593-710). The road intersected with a road to Nanba, today's Osaka. That crossing was a meeting spot for many people and was where the market, known as Tsubaichi, took place.

The ancient Tsubaichi market had an event called the utagaki, which translates as "poem party." During such parties, young men and women gathered and sought out partners by exchanging love poems. Several such poems were included in "Manyoshu," Japan's oldest existing poetry collection, which was compiled some time after the year 759 during the Nara Period (710-794).

Imitating the romantic tradition, festival organizers will sell paper lanterns on which participants can write romantic messages to their loved ones. The lanterns will then be set afloat on Hatsuse River.
source : Japan Times, September 2012

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meharizushi, mehari sushi めはり寿司 rice wrapped in leaves
... toobazushi, tooba sushi とう菜寿司
From the Back Yoshino area 奥吉野, made from wild takana, 高菜, (mana マナ, harumana 春真菜) wrapped around hot cooked rice. It is the first harbinger of spring in Yoshino. Woodworkers and forest workers used it as a bento lunch paket.
The names comes from a wordplay, with "opeinig your eyes wide when seeing this huge lunch paket" "me o miharu hodo okii".
Also eaten in Mie and Wakayama prefecture.
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..... haru mana no nibitashi 春まなの煮びたし
"cooked spring leaves"
They are first fried in oil and abura-age tofu is added.
Harumana 春真菜 is getting more and more difficult to find in the forests in the Back of Yoshino.

..... haru mana tsukemono 春まな漬 pickled harumana leaves

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. Takana 高菜 mustard greens .


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Miwa soomen 三輪そうめん / 素麺 thin Somen noodles from Miwa town
Somen are fine dried noodles, only one or two millimeters in diameter. Somen produced in Miwa are known for their high-quality due to the clear air and pure water. Somen have a history of more than 1000 years, showing the Chinese influence on the old capital. They are cooked in boiling water then washed in cold water until they have cooled down. Cooked somen are served with a special soup called somen tsuyu. Adding spice and condiments enhances the taste of the somen. (See nyuumen below.)


momiuri もみうり cucumbers in vinegar
Cucumbers (kyuuri) are rubbed (momi) in salt until they are soft and then pickled in vinegar. The pronounciation then boiled down to momi kyuuri, momi-uri.
Especially eaten in summer. Also prepared at the celebrations after rice planting,to entertain the God of the Rice Fields 田の神.
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nanairo o-ae 七色お和え dressing in seven colors
Made for the o-Bon celebrations of the ancestors, on August 7, when the preparations begin in the Nara area. Seven vegetables of the season (myooga ginger, taro roots, ingen beans, carrots, eggplants, zuiki, pumpkin and special beans (sando mame 三度豆) are used, different in each family tradition. The dressing is made from sweet miso and sesame. To present it to the ancestors, abura-age tofu is added and cooked rice and steamng hot tea is also pot on the shelf for the ancestors.


Naranoppe, Nara-noppe 奈良のっぺ Noppe vegetable broth from Nara
On the 17th of December at the shrine Kasuga Daisha Wakamiya 春日大社若宮 three is a special festival, On Matsuri おん祭り, where decorations from the passing year are burned as offerings. In Nara, peoople eat NOPPE on this day.
Made of satoimo taro root, radish, carrots and goboo, with aburak-age tofu, a very thick broth to keep you warm.


Narazuke, Nara-zuke 奈良漬け pickled vegetables
Narazuke pickles date back to the 8th Century when Nara was the capital of Japan. They are pickles made from vegetables such as shirouri, a type of cucurbitaceous fruit, using "sakekasu", or sake lees. Nara's "sakekasu" is particularly tasty, and gives the pickles their unique flavor. Narazuke pickles are easily Nara's most famous regional specialty.


nyuumen にゅうめん - 入麺 - 煮麺 - 乳麪 wheat noodles
(a kind of soomen from Miwa)
Their production has been taught by the gods from Mount Miwa to the people living close by. They are thin as a thread, white as snow. They are produced during the cold winter months. In summer eaten cold, in winter in warm broth with seasonal vegetables.
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sanmazushi, sanma sushi 秋刀魚寿司 sushi from Pacific saury
Around december, this fish comes down from Hokkaido toward the Kii peninsula and is caught near the high sea off Kumano 熊野灘. They have not so much fat and just right for sushi. Often made for family festivities or the new year celebrations.



senbei, shika senbei
Senbei, sembei 煎餅 (せんべい) rice crackers, sweet and salty
shika senbei tobashi, throwing deer senbei, kigo



shikaniku no Yamato-ni 鹿肉の大和煮 boiled deer meat
Meat from wild animals has been eaten since olden times in the villages near the forests around Yamato. Deer has more fat in the summer and autumn months from July to October and is poetically named as Momiji Meat モミジ肉, red maple leaves meat.




shikishiki しきしき snack from wheat flour
Eaten in the Katsuragi Taima area 葛城當麻
Wheat flour is grown on the paddies after the rice harvest. Flour with sugar and eggs is kneaded and made to thin crepes, folded and fried in the pan. It was a treat in times when eggs where an expensive item.



shishinabe しし鍋（しし汁） wild boar soup with miso paste
A lot of winter vegertables are used too, also mountain pepper to appease the strong smell of wild boar meat. The fatty meat warms the body to the bone on a cold winter day in the mountains.


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so そ 蘇（そ）酥 / 蘇 milk products of old
from Nara
milk product from boiled down milk of cows or sheep. almost condensed milk.
Made in the the area since the Asuka period (538 to 710 (or 592-645)).
The preparation of milk has been taught to the Japanese from China via the silk road. Since the advent of Buddhism, Emperor Tenmu in 675 made a degree forbidding the use of meat as food. Only wild beasts could be eaten by hunters in the forest. Some monks brought fried bean curd (toogashi とうがし【唐菓子】 ) and milk products like raku らく【酪】 (milk refined for drinking) and so 蘇 (condensed milk), even
daigo だいご【醍醐】 (a kind of butter or cheese), which could be enjoyed instead of meat products.


Asuka no So 飛鳥の蘇

daigo 醍醐 is the fifth of our five tasts (gomi 五味). It symbolizes something very much at the top, in Buddhism even satori or enlightenment.


Sweets like a cheese cake made from this old-type milk are sold for example near the shrine Kashihara Jinguu 橿原神宮 in Yoshino.
It almost tasts like caramel candy.


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tachibana 橘 (たちばな) Tachibana citrus fruit




umeboshi 梅干し dried plums, salted plums, pickled ume, plum pickles
After Wakayama and Gunma, Nara is the third largest producer of this daiyl delicacy.
For example from Anou 賀名生 and Tsukigase 月ヶ瀬, where the tradition is very old. The whole family of a plum farmer will be out working in June.
. WASHOKU
Umeboshi 梅干 dried pickled salty plums



. Warabimochi 蕨餅 / 笑来美餅 mochi with bracken powder
Nara is famous for its delicious warabi bracken. These mochi have been prepared since the Ashikaga period.




yakiayu, yaki-ayu 焼鮎 / 焼き鮎 grilled ayu sweetfish
They grow in the clear rivers of Yoshinogawa and Asukagawa 吉野川や飛鳥川 and are already mentioned in the old poetry almanach of the Manyo-Shu 万葉集 .



yakuzen ryoori 薬膳料理 "medicine food", food as medicine
This refers to a healthy cuisine that originated in China. Fresh vegetables produced in Nara, including some that were first brought here from ancient China, are cooked with Japanese herbs and seasonings to create delicious food. Not only is it tasty, yakuzen ryori is also good for enhancing the immune system to keep you in good health. You can try both traditional as well as fusion style dishes.


Yamato mana no nibitashi 大和まなの煮浸し abura-age tofu with vegetables
Yamato mana are the green vegetables of the area. They have quite a sweet taste when boiled. Since Showa 50 some of the wild vegetables are also grown in the mountainous areas of eastern Nara prefecture.
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yogomi no antsuke-mochi よごみの餡つけ餅 ricecakes with sweet bean paste with mugwort
In the Yamato area, meeting and dining with friends and family in a kind of renzo れんぞ(連座) is on the 3rd day of April.
The most famous RENZO is probably Shinmu Renzo ｢神武さんれんぞ｣
celebrated at the Shrine Kashiwara Jinguu. Many other temples in Yamato also celebrate on this day.
Farmers do not work on this day and prepare some kinds of food like makizushi and boiled food (nimono) for their relatives as "gosso ごっつぉ" (gochisoo ごちそう/ 御馳走), a feast.
One special dish for this day is yogomi, local dialect for yomogi mugwort. It is picked from the riverbanks, only the young fresh leaves are used. After that day, farmers get busy with the spring field work.




zooni 奈良の雑煮（きな粉雑煮）
New Year Soup with kinako soybean flour
Mochi dumped in sweetened kinako are put in the soup, almost like Abekawa Mochi. Special vegetables, like "yatsugashira" 頭芋（ヤツガシラ）taro roots symbolize the head of a person, tofu stands for the white walls of a storehouse, konnyaku symbolizes a square storehouse with thick brown mortar walls, round mochi help people to live "round" with no problems. The yellow color of the kinako flour brings luck with money matters, the rice grains stand for many children and many generations to follow.
This is quite an auspicious soup !


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More specialities

Black Rice Curry

Kaki (persimmon) cake
Masaoka Shiki, a Japanese famous haiku poet wrote a well known haiku "Taking a bite of Kaki, suddenly the bell of Horyuji ringing". This is a Japanese pound cake that uses dried Kaki from Nara.

Nara no Tori Cha (chicken with tea)
Negi ... Home grown Negi and Yamato Nikudori Sukiyaki
Yamato Nabe
Yamato Nikudori Teriyaki Don (Yamato Chicken Teriyaki Bowl)

Sources
http://www.pref.nara.jp/nara_e/dd_aspx_itemid-1388.htm


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


a snack with no frills
飾らないおやつ



Daruma cookies from Nara
ぜいたく豆本舗

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Kukkii だるまクッキーDaruma cookies
Daruma sweets だるまやスイーツ



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HAIKU and SENRYU


くず水や 花の下ゆく吉野川
kuzumizu ya hana no shita yuku Yoshinogawa

arrowroot water -
under the blossoms flows
the Yoshino river

Kigin 季吟

Kuzu KIGO for summer


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焼鮎の膳より吹かれ箸袋
yaki-ayu no zen yori fukare hashi-bukuro

blown from the tray
with grilled sweetfish -
paperbag for chopsticks

Katsura Nobuko 桂信子

WKD : Ayu 鮎 trout, sweetfish as KIGO


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Matsuo Basho　松尾芭蕉
staying in Otsu 大津, at the home of Zeze Kyokusui 膳所曲水亭 / 菅沼曲水亭 on September 28.
The theme of the kukai meeting was "yosamu", the evening getting cold.
Basho's host Kyokusui was cooking a night meal of wheat noodles, miso, and vegetables.





乳麪の下たきたつる夜寒哉
煮麺の下焚きたつる夜寒哉　
nyuumen no shita takitatsuru yosamu kana

beneath the noodles
building up the fire:
the night's cold
Tr. Barnhill


noodles
building a fire underneath
a night's cold
Tr. Reichhold


Written in autumn of 1691, 元禄4年晩秋
This hokku has the cut marker KANA at the end of line 3.

tending to a fire
beneath the hot wheat noodle soup
on this cold night . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve


. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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Related words

***** WASHOKU : Regional Japanese Dishes
- #nara #chagayu -
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Nagano Prefecture

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Nagano



Nagano Prefecture (長野県, Nagano-ken) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Nagano.
Nagano was formerly known as the province of Shinano.

©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Lake Suwa, Suwako 諏訪湖
It ranks 24th in Japan in surface area.

Temple Zenkoji
WKD : Temple Zenkoji Gokaicho 善光寺


Rokuben, Bento for a kabuki performance
ろくべん, 大鹿歌舞伎 Nagano、Oshika mura 大鹿村


growing area of daikon radish for takuan pickles.


Matsumoto Castle (松本城 ,Matsumoto-jō)
also known as Fukashi Castle, is a flatland castle and one of Japan's historic castles. Located in the city of Matsumoto, in Nagano Prefecture.
This castle is also called "Crow Castle" because of its black walls and spreading wings. It is an example of a flatland castle, not being built on a hilltop or amid rivers.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Its moat is about 60 meters wide, just enough to protect the buildings from the bullets of guns, that had just been introduced to Japan.
The outside walls are painted with laquer to protect it from catching fire easily and craftsmen in many generations are doing the painting for three months every year, hanging from safety ropes high up on the castle walls.
During the peaceful Edo period, a "Tower to watch the moonshine" tsukimi yagura 月見櫓 was also build. It has a beautiful red railing painted in red laquer to protect it from the elements.
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Kaida kogen (Kaida koogen 開田高原)
Kaida Highlands
at the foot of Mount Ontake 御岳
They grow a lot of buckwheat and when cut, hang it on the fields in a special manner that looks like a person standing up (sobadate 蕎麦立て. そば立て)

Once the army of the enemy was fooled by the vision and thought hundreds of soldiers were waiting for them ... and retreated without a fight.


sunki-zuke, sunkizuke スンキ漬 / スンキ漬け fermented red turnip stems and leaves
akakabu no kuki. (zunki, tsunki)
from Kiso, South-West Nagano
The name comes from "sour stems" suppai kuki ... sunki.
Since there was no salt in the old days, the fermentation of vegetables to keep for winter was introduced with the juice of wild grapes (yamabudoo). 　Each housewife had her own taste, keeping about 8 bunches of the turnips to put them in the bucket for the next year to ferment into lactobacteria Milchsaurebakterien. The fermentation provided the vitamies for winter.
Before pickling, the small bit of turnip with the leaves is blanched in hot water for about 8 seconds to kill the bacteria. When fermenting over night, it needs a special temperature provided by the cold wind of the area in winter.
Grandmothers make as much as they can do themselves, from growing the turnips to harvesting and pickling. They give away much to their children and grandchildren, but there are fewer families now to make them.
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These pickles are put over a dish of freshly made buckwheat noodles
sunki toojisoba スンキとうじ蕎麦
or fried with tofu. Even sunki on pizza is now tried by the local farmwifes, who have founded a group to "Study the use of sunki".
The red turnips are put in the ground right in the fields, covered with earth and dug out in small portions to be eaten in winter by the farmers. They also pickle them now with salt as normal tsukemono, when the turnips take on the red-purple color from the outside.


In the Kaida area the old type of the real KISO UMA 木曾馬, horses from the Kiso area, are now kept again and villagers are trying to increase their number.

Farmers used to live with the horses under one roof and feed them dry grass in the wintertime. The area now still has more than 1000 stone markers to pray for the safety of the horses to Bato Kannon (Batoo Kannon　馬頭観音), Kannon in an incarnation with horse heads above her head.
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Nagano regional dishes　長野郷土料理





basashi 馬刺し raw horse meat
Horse meat, baniku (ばにく/ 馬肉) basashi, sakuranabe
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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gohei mochi, goheimochi 五平餅 grilled rice dumplings
Made from rice flour. Grilled with a sauce of miso and walnuts (kurumi).
Also made in Eastern Gifu.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



Gohei mochi offering for
. Yamanokami in Toyama 富山県 .

Gohei mochi offering for
Yama no Kami 山の神 Deity of the Mountains in Gifu
. Sake 酒 rice wine for regional rituals .

. Guhin mochi 狗賓餅 rice cakes for the Guhin Tengu Yokai .
Guhin mochi were later called Gohei mochi 五平餅.

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koi ryoori 鯉料理 carp dishes
koi koku, koi-koku 鯉こく carp dish
carp is cut in rings and pickled in Shinshu miso paste. Then simmered for a long time in miso paste. A kind of carp soup.
The town of Saku is famous for carp cultivation, more than 300 years, with clear water ponds. The water in the Shinshu area is quite cold and carp are strong.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

koi no arai 鯉のあらい carp innards
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


kurumi ohagi, kurumi o-hagi くるみおはぎ
dumplings with walnut paste
A sauce is made from fried walnuts in soysauce and sugar.
The town of Tomi 東御市 is known for its production of walnuts.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Walnuts have been introduced to the area from America. Before that, there were two sorts of wild Japanese varieties with much smaller, harder nuts.
Kurumi 胡桃Walnut, KIGO



inekoki-na 稲核菜
Leaves of the trunip in the Inekoki area
Rübenblätter aus der Region Inekoki.



Jibachi senbei 地蜂煎餅, 地蜂せんべいWasp rice crackers



mannen-zushi 万年ずし "10000 Sushi"
From the area of Ootaki Village
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



nira senbei ニラせんべい crackers with Chinese leek
Nira can be used fresh from spring to autumn. All families prepare this kind, which is rather an omelette flavored with soy sauce and sugar.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



Nozawana-zuke 野沢菜漬 nozawanazuke
pickled green leafy vegetable
Vegetable from Nozawa hot spring, Nagano.



oshibori udon おしぼりうどん "udon noodles in wrought-out sauce"
from Hanishina-gun 埴科郡坂城町
made with a rather pungent radish, "rat radish" nezumi daikon ねずみ大根, which is grated and the juice mixed with Shinshu Miso paste. The noodles are dipped in the sauce.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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oyaki, o-yaki おやき , お焼き, 御焼（き）
grilled dumplings with vegetables
eaten everywhere in Nagano, especially during the O-Bon ancestor festival.
Their place of origin is said to be the Azumino area 安曇野（あづみの）.
Known since the Muromachi period, sometimes seen as a rural kind of simple manjuu.
Mountain vegetables (sansai) and seasonal vegetables are fried with soy sauce and miso paste. Sweet bean paste is also added. The mixture is wrapped in dough and can be grilled or steamed for eating. Best when roasted on an iron pan at the irori open hearth in the farmhouse.
The dough is usually made with wheat flour, but sometimes buckwheat flour or even millet flour and sometimes rice flour is used.
It keeps the hunger off for a long time and is eaten as oyatsu in the afternoon or a snack in the evening. They can also be eaten cold.
Other fillings are apple, potatoes with maize corn, cheese with pumpkin or adzuki beans only.
Hijiki (braune Meeralgen), kinpira, mixed vegetables or pumpkin and eggplants only.
Dried radish (kiriboshi daikon), nozawana leafy vegetables, shimeji mushrooms and vegetables,
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
also
joomon o-yaki 縄文おやき　 from Ogawa Village　小川村
They are good for your health, they contain a big bowl of healthy vegetables and are low in calories.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
In the areas with heavy snow in winter, there is no wheat harvest and rice flour is used. These dumplings are called anbo あんぼ.
mit Gemüse gefüllte Reisküchlein
(konchin is a type of o-yaki in Tosa).

o-yaki is an old word from the imperial court kitchen (女房詞（にょうぼうことば）, meaning yakimochi.
In Yamanashi prefecture the snack of a farmhouse is made as a yakidango 焼き団子, grilled ball, but also called o-yaki.
They can be grilled by putting them into the ashes of the open hearth fire and are eaten hot with sugar and some soy sauce.


©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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roomen ローメン noodle dish
(almost like ramen)
with tomatoes and other fried vegetables and Chinese soba noodles.
Often mutton or lamb meat is added.
from the Ina region 長野県伊那地方
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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sasadango 笹団子 (ささだんご) dumplings on sasa leaves


sasa sushi, sasa-zushi 笹寿司 Sushi served on sasa leaves
wrapped in sasa leaves. A kind of oshizushi.
Sasa japonica. bamboo grass
During the battles at Kawanakajima, there were no vessels to serve the food in. So the soldiers took these leaves, which are abundant, and placed their food on them.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Kawanakajima no tatakai 川中島の戦い
were fought in the Sengoku Period of Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province in the plain of Kawanakajima, in the north of Shinano Province. The location is in the southern part of the present-day city of Nagano.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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sekihan 赤飯 "red rice"
cooked with sweet beans amanatto and the sweet juice of the beans
roter Reis mit suessen Feuerbohnen
CLICK here for PHOTOS !


sekihan manjuu, sekihan manju 赤飯饅頭 manju with red rice inside
from Iida town, 飯田市
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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Shinshuu miso　信州味噌　miso paste
Shinshuu-miso, Miso aus der Gegend Shinshuu, Nagano
Eine weiße Miso mit bis zu 18 Prozent Salzgehalt. Sie braucht nur drei bis vier Monate zur Fermentierung. Sie hat einen leicht säuerlichen, sehr aromatischen Geschmack.


Shinshuu saamon 信州サーモン "salmon from Shinshu"
This is a cross-breed of rainbow trout and brown trout. It is a sweetwater lake trout fish.
Its taste is superb and very good for sushi and sashimi.
Its meat is finer than rainbow trout, but invitingly red.
The fish does not lay eggs and thus keeps all its energy for good taste. It is hoped to revive the local food industry with this fish.
From 長野県水産試験場
Nagano Prefectural fisheries experimental station.
. . . CLICK here for fish Photos !


Shinshuu soba 信州蕎麦, soba buckwheat noodles
from Shinshu, Nagano
Buckwheat grows well in the cold mountains of Nagano. Best in Togakushi and Norikura 戸隠、乗鞍.


乗鞍のかなた春星かぎりなし
. Norikura no kanata haruboshi kagirinashi .

Maeda Fura 前田普羅

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shio 塩 SALT

shioika, shio-ika 塩イカ salted squid
The squid is salted for 16 hours, then drained for 3 hours in clear water. It is prepared with vinegar into a su no mono dish.　酢の物
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
This way of eating is only found in Nagano prefecture.

Squid was transported along the old "salt road" 塩の道 shio no michi along Itoikawa to Nagano.
squid is also simmered, niika, ni-ika 煮イカ
cut in rings and eaten with soysauce as a kind of sashimi in Nagano.

. . . CLICK here for Photos !




. shio no michi 塩の道 the salt roads of Japan .
- Shio no michi Chojiya 塩の道ちょうじや Salt Road Museum, Nagano





一里塚過ぎ日盛の塩の道 　
ichirizuka sugi himori no shio no michi

past the milestone mound
the sun is high up in the sky
of the salt road

佐々木小夜 Sasaki Sayo

. ichirizuka 一里塚 milestone mound .

- Shio ... Salt 　塩 and WASHOKU

Salzstrasse, Salzstraße

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soba with yamabokuchi やまぼくち (山火口)
Menrui ... all kinds of noodles 麺類


taguri, o-taguri おたぐり speciality of horse innards.


takenoko jiru 竹の子汁 miso soup with bamboo shoots
and tinned fish, saba can タケノコ汁」にサバ缶
The special thin bamboo is only harvested about two months in early summer. And one or two tins of saba fish are added.
CLICK here for PHOTOS !



wakasagi 諏訪湖ワカサギ pond smelt
from Lake Suwako. They are best in early spring, when they come to lay eggs.
They are also fished in winter through holes in the ice.
Hypomesus transpacificus nipponensis
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



. WASHOKU
yamashio, yamajio 山塩 "salt from the mountains"
from Oshika mura in Nagano 大鹿村



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Worldwide use

Goheimochi
Diese traditionellen Reisküchlein sind in vielen Berggegenden in Nagano ein beliebter Snack am Nachmittag. Währnd der Edo-Zeit, als Reis in diesen Bergregionen noch etwas besonderes war, wurden sie nur zu Festlichkeiten zubereitet.
Kleine runde Klöße aus gekochtem und kleingestampftem Reis werden auf einen Spieß gesteckt oder für einen länglichen Kloß wird der gestampfte Reis einfach um einen Spieß aus Bambus oder Zedernholz gedrückt. Die längliche Form erinnert an einen Schlitten oder ein altes Goldstück (koban). Diese Reisklöße werden am Herdfeuer kurz angebraten.

Für die Sauce wird nach Familientradition eine Sojasauce mit Miso-Paste, Walnüssen und Sesam angerührt und über die Klöße gestrichen. In der Gegend von Kiso wird die Sojasauce mit kleingehackten grünen Perillablättern und Zucker zubereitet. Neuerdings wird sogar Erdnussbutter untergemischt, manchmal auch noch Eier, Honig oder Bienenlarven.
Der Name leitet sich ab von einem Ritualgegenstand des Shintooismus, einem Szepter mit geweihten weißen gefalteten Papierstreifen (gohei 御幣), denn die Form ähnelt diesem Gohei-Stab.
Die Stadt Tomi in Nagano ist eine der bekanntesten für den Anbau von Walnüssen in Japan.

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

曲げておる婆の背中や　スンキ付け
magete oru baba no senaka ya sunkizuke

the bend back
of the old farmers wife -
pickled sunki

Gabi Greve, December 2008

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Related words

Menrui ... all kinds of noodles 麺類


***** WASHOKU : Regional Japanese Dishes

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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
- #nagano #shionomichi #saltroad -
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Nanohana na no hana CHIBA

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Rape blossoms (nanohana, na no hana)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late Spring
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation


Chiba prefecture is famous for its many rapeseed fields and the yellow coloring in early spring. Sometimes called mustard flowers.

Nahana zuke, rape flower pickles
花菜漬 (はななづけ)
na no hana zuke 菜の花漬（なのはなづけ）

picking rape flowers, hana natsumi 花菜摘（はななつみ）

SPRING : Pickles


KIGO : Rapeseed blossoms (na no hana) Japan



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. . . CLICK here for Food Photos !

Here are some more dishes with these flowers :

Asari あさりと菜の花のガーリック炒め asari clams and garlic

Gyuuniku 牛肉と菜の花の炒め物 fried beef

Ika no karashi ae 菜の花といかの辛子あえ squid and hot dressing

Ika no kakiage 菜の花といかのかき揚げ fried squid

Itame 菜の花のあっさり炒め fried with rice

Karashi shooyu ae 菜の花の辛子じょうゆあえ hot dressing

Pasuta 菜の花とはまぐりの和風パスタ spagetti with hamaguri clams

Penne 菜の花の和風クリームペンネ European-style penne noodles

Sarada 菜の花とパプリカ、ひよこ豆のサラダ salad with paprika and hiyoko beans

Sarada 菜の花と生ハムのサラダ salad with raw ham

Shiroae, shiro ae 菜の花のやわらか白和え soft tofu dressing

Suimono 菜の花のお吸い物 clear broth

Sushi えびと菜の花の香り寿司 shrimps sushi

Tamago itame 菜の花と卵の炒め物 scrambled eggs

Takikomi gohan 菜の花とはまぐりの炊き込みご飯 cooked with rice and hamaguri clams

Tomato トマトクリームパスタ tomato spagetti

source with recipes: kikkoman



Nanohana tempura


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Worldwide use

Rapsblüte, Rapsblüten

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

かるた程門のなの花咲にけり
karuta hodo kado no na no hana saki ni keri

like playing cards
are these rapeseed blossoms
by the gate

Kobayashi Issa




菜の花は、食べるものだと心得よ
nanohana wa taberu mono da to kokoroe yo

rapeseed flowers
are something to eat -
and don't you forget that !

source : korokuma29


. Karuta, Uta Karuta 歌留多 Poetry Cards .
They are often used during the New Year holidays.

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上ミ京の花菜漬屋に嫁入りし　
Kamigyoo no hananazukeya ni yomeiri shi


getting married
to a rapeseed pickles store owner
in Upper Kyoto

Takahama Kyoshi 高浜虚子



多い目に御飯を炊いて花菜漬　
ooime ni gohan o taite nahana zuke

cooking more rice
than usual ...
mustard blossom pickles
　　　　　　　　
Inahata Teiko 稲畑汀子


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Related words

***** Rapeseed blossoms (na no hana) Japan


***** WASHOKU : Regional Japanese Dishes

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Niigata Echigo

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Niigata prefecture



Niigata Prefecture (新潟県, Niigata-ken) is a prefecture of Japan located on Honshū island on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name Niigata literally means "New Lagoon".
Niigata prefecture was originally divided into Echigo Province and Sado Province until the Meiji Restoration. During the Sengoku period it was ruled by Uesugi Kenshin.

The major industry in Niigata is agriculture. Rice is the principal product, with Niigata ranking 2nd (after Hokkaidō) among the prefectures for total rice output. The area around Uonuma is especially known for its Koshihikari variety of rice, which is widely thought of as the highest quality rice in Japan.

Rice-related industries are also very important to the local economy. Niigata prefecture is known throughout Japan for its quality sake, senbei, mochi, and arare. In sake production, Niigata is third in the country after Gunma and Kyoto prefectures.

The prefecture is famous as the original home of the ornamental carp known as koi, and the best-quality koi are still considered to come from the farms of Niigata.


Niigata is known for the following regional specialities:

Uonuma koshihikari rice: considered the best quality rice in Japan.
Shoyu (soy-sauce) and Yofu (western-style) katsudon.
Shoyu sekihan.
Sasa-dango, sasadango (mochi balls filled with red bean paste, seasoned with mugwort and wrapped in bamboo leaves).
Po-po-yaki (steamed bread flavored with brown sugar).
"Tsubame-Sanjo ramen" (ramen made using thick udon-style noodles).
Kirazu (dishes using okara).
Kakinomoto (edible chrysanthemums).

Kanzuri (a special seasoning from Myōkō (Myookoo, Myoko) made by leaving chili pepper exposed on snow, then adding flour, salt and yuzu).
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


Tenchijin (天地人)
is the 48th NHK Taiga drama for 2009! NHK大河ドラマ
The life of Naoe Kanetsugu　
直江兼続（なおえ かねつぐ 1560 - 1619）
Kanetsugu in Yamagata


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Niigata Dishes 新潟郷土料理


abura-age 油あげ deepfried tofu pouches
Tochio aburage あぶらげ (aburaage is called "aburage" in Tochio　栃尾), where there is even an "aburage matsuri" festival あぶらげまつり.
They are made with 100 % Niigaga soybeans. With leek and ginger, they are a delicacy.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


anbo あんぼ balls from rice and vegetables
rice flour and finely chopped vegetables of the season, sansai and soy beans are kneaded with them. A food for the cold winter morning breakfast.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Ambo


ayu no ishiyaki 鮎の石焼 ayu fish fried on hot stones
You collect stones by the riverside and heat them up for 2 hours. Thes the innards of the fish and miso paste are fried on the stone. It is just a little bitter in taste.


boodara no nitsuke ぼうだらの煮付け simmered dried cod
boodara 棒鱈 "stick tara" is tara cut in three pieces and dried.
It is simmered with sugar and soy sauce for half a day to get the bones soft.
boodara is a kigo for spring.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Stockfisch
tara たら【鱈】codfish, haddock


botamochi ぼたもち rice cakes covered with sween bean paste
... see mochi


dengaku 田楽 food on skewers, with misopaste
Dengaku dance and food with amazing details
Usually firm tofu and eggplants on skewers, grilled with miso paste. Also satoimo potatoes, fish and other vegetables are grilled like this.




donbikoni, donbiko-ni, どんびこ煮 donbiko-ni cooked heart of salmon
speciality of Murakami area.
Cooked in sweet sauce. Precious food since there is only one heart in each fish caught.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


egoneri (igoneri) えごねり（イゴネリ）seaweed
The seaweed "egogusa エゴ草" from the wild sea of the Nihonkai is full of minerals.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
. The Azumi clan 安曇族　 and ego /igo dishes .


Fucha ryori, fucha ryoori 普茶料理 Chinese monk quisine


gajini がじに cooked innards of salmon
from Murakami area. Cooked in a hodgepodge with vegetables and spicy sauce.


gibasani, gibasa-ni ぎばさ煮 boiled gibasa seaweed
also called akamoku あかもく or nagamo ナガモ "long seaweed"
It grows in shallow sea water and grows to seven meters long.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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hegisoba, hegi soba へぎそば buckwheat noodles
from Ochiya town 小千谷そば
Buckwheat flour is mixed with the seaweed funori 布海苔（ふのり）, hitting the dough in a special way. (nori 糊 glue). The noodles are quite firm.
hegi 片木 is a thin wooden board hegi ita 剥板, that was used like a shingle for a roof.
They are served in small portions arranged like shingles, "swinging the hand once" 一手振り.
They are almost like zarusoba.



hime takenoko 姫たけのこ / 姫竹の子 small thin bamboo shoots
They are put in miso soup or boiled as a sidedish.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


ibushi daikon いぶし大根 smoked radish
small radishes are smoked for about one week. Then it is cut and pickled in rice bran miso
(iburi gakko is from Akita)


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kachidokimeshi （かちどき飯）"rice to win the battle"
This was given to the warriours before sending them to battle, to encourage them, by their lord, Uesugi Kenshin 謙信公.
It includes kezurimono in auspicious five colors けずりもの, sengoku war sashimi 戦国さしみ, aburiyaki grilled meat 炙り焼き, nuka misoni boiled in miso 糠味噌煮, kurumi hitashi walnuts 胡桃浸し, kuromai black rice (brown rice) 黒米（玄米), atsumejiru soup 集め汁 koo no mono pickles 香の物, mizugashi mixed fruit 水菓子.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



kaguramiso, kagura nanban miso 神楽南蛮味噌
kagurananban (kagura namban) is a kind of bell pepper. It has its name because it is full of bulbs like the mask for a kagura dance. In the village 新潟県中頚城郡中郷村 it is called buta koshoo, ぶたこしょう pepper for pigs.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


kanzuri かんずり chili paste
fermented chili paste with yuzu citron and salt, kept in the snow and matured for 3 years. Sauce for nabemono
from the high areas of Echigo
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


kensayaki, kensa-yaki けんさ焼き "rice grilled on a sword tip"
When Uesugi Kenshin fought his many wars around 1550, he had his soldiers put onigiri on the top of the sword and grill them slightly before eating. It was his way to show resprct to the rice-growing farmers of his province.
Now it is eaten for the New Year and harvest festivals.
A bit of miso paste can be put on the grilled rice.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



kiku no hana no sunomono 菊の花の酢の物
vinegared chrysanthemum flowers
Speciality of Niigata and other areas of Tohoku in Northern Japan. Eaten in autumn.


kinpira キンピラ simmered root vegetables
Kinpira (Japanese: 金平) is a Japanese cooking style that can be summarised as a technique of "sauté and simmer". It is commonly used to cook root vegetables such as carrot, burdock and lotus root, seaweeds such as arame and hijiki and other foods including tofu and namafu (生麸) (wheat gluten).
The dish features the use of soy sauce and mirin, as well as often slivered chili peppers.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

In Niigata, kinpira is put into rice flour dumplings, kinpira dango キンピラ団子, (considered a sweet or oyatsu for the three o'clock snack)
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

kinpira soba キンピラ蕎麦 where the kinpira is put into the dipping sauce and then eaten with the buckwheat noodles.



kiriai きりあい daikon pickled in miso
daikon radish boiled, cut very small and mixed with miso. Some yuzu citron, black sesame and sugar is added. It can be put on rice just like this.
shiso-iri kiriai しそ入りきりあい with perilla leaves
from Iwaya Onsen 岩室温泉
Iwa is a postal town at the "Northern Route" hokkoku kaidoo 北国街道.
another speciality of Iwaya is
suika misozuke すいか味噌漬 watermelon pickled in miso
Iwaya onsen manjuu 岩室温泉饅頭
Iwaya senbei 岩室せんべい
. . . CLICK here for Photos of the hot spring!



koshihikari コシヒカリthe most famous brand of rice
Rice, kome, types of rice

koshihikari matsuril コシヒカリまつり
rice festival
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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Kubiki no oshizushi くびきの押し寿司 station lunch
from Naoetsu Station 直江津駅 and JR越後湯沢駅
ekiben from Kubiki area 頸城地方（くびきちほう）
Three different flavors in three layers. With local koshihikari rice.
CLICK here for PHOTOS !



miruku yookan ミルクようかん milk desert
made from milk, sugar and kanten jelly. It comes in a container like yoghurt. Taken out it looks like a white piece of tofu. Cut into pieces, eaten with fruit.




mojio 藻塩 salt with seaweed
from Sado Island 佐渡
Salt of Japan



nasu no abura itame なすの油炒め fried eggplant
There are many different types of eggplants in Niigata. round eggplants 丸なす, long eggplants 長なす, eggplants "like brushes" 鉛筆なす、and 十全なす、水なす、漬けなす、巾着なす ...
Most of them are also prepared for tsukemono pickles.


nina 煮菜 "simmered leaves"
from leafy vegetables like Nozawana 野沢菜 and taina タイ菜
Simmered with beans and abura-age tofu pouches.
..... ni namasu 煮なます simmered daikon
grated daikon radish with crushed beand simmered with sugar and vinegar.


nodoguro のどぐろ / のど黒 "black neck" fish
expensive fatty white fish
CLICK here for PHOTOS !


noppejiru のっぺ汁 Vegetable broth with mixed ingredients
noppe stew, Noppe-Eintopf


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okoshigata おこし型 colored sweet dumplings
Sado beanpaste cakes
filled with anko sweet bean paste. They are very colorful, pink, green and yellow. They come in various auspicious forms, flowers or animals, made to stand up on decoration shelves, for example the Doll festival, the Boy's festival or O-Bon for the ancestors.
Sado Island
. . . CLICK here for Photos 佐渡のおこし型 !



okowadango おこわだんご balls
with okowa rice outside and sween anko inside
from Washima village 和島村


sankaku chimaki 三角ちまき rice wrapped in triangular form
prepared by lokal farmewifes for the husband to take to the field work.
Now it is mostly eaten as a sweet snack with kinako soybean flower.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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sasadango 笹団子 (ささだんご) dumplings


sasazushi 笹寿司 Sushi served on sasa leaves
Sasa japonica. During the battles at Kawanakajima, there were no vessels to serve the food in. So the soldiers took these leaves, which are abundant, and placed their food on them.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Kawanakajima no tatakai 川中島の戦い
were fought in the Sengoku Period of Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province in the plain of Kawanakajima, in the north of Shinano Province. The location is in the southern part of the present-day city of Nagano.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Shagiri manjuu しゃぎり 饅頭 Murakami village



shake no sakebitashi 鮭の酒びたし salmon in rice wine
from the Murakami area 村上地方
Salmon pieces dried hard in the cold wind of the Sea of Japan were defrozen by putting them in a bit of hot rice wine and mirin.
salmon pickled in Japanese wine, marinated in Sake
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



shinsetsujiru miyuki jiru 深雪汁 "deep snow soup"
soup made of rabbit meat ウサギ肉. With pieces of radish, carrots, satoimo potatoes, shimeji mushrooms, konnyaku and burdock, it is full of nurishment on a cold winter day.



suketo no okijiru スケトウの沖汁　/ スケトの沖汁
halibutt soup on the boat
prepared by fishermen on the boat. On the fishing trip to Sado island they caught sukettodara すけとうだら(介党鱈) and cut it into bite-size in a pot with miso soup or salt water.
Alaska pollack, Theragra chalcogramma
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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Takahashi ame 高橋あめ made with millet
from Echigo, the store Takahashiya makes them in the 14th generation
桜花くびきの里 hana saku biki no sato
“粟の古代飴”awa no kodai ame, millet sweets in the old style
They were the appointed sweet makers of the Lord. 御用菓子師
高橋孫左衛門商店 Takahashi Magozaemon Ameya 高橋あめや
上越市南本町3-7-2

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tori no karaage (kara-age) 鳥のから揚げ deep fried chicken
They serve a half chicken with one wing and one leg, all covered in curry powder and then deep fried for about 10 minutes. It is quite a volumous portion.
CLICK here for PHOTOS !



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tsuttoko つっとこ New Year Food
packed in straw and hung in the cool space between the kitchen and outside.
About 14 different ingredients from the local fields are packed in a straw bag for each member of the family. A mikan was a special treat, so was a boiled egg. Home-made konnyaku was also put in the package.
Toge Shuraku, Matsudai Area 峠集落（松代エリア）(Tooge Shuuraku)
They also use wild rabbit for the zoni New Year soup in Toge.
yama-usagi ozooni 山ウサギお雑煮



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umazurahagi, umazura hagi ウマズラハギ "hagi with the face of a horse"
Thamnaconus modestus
Local people call it UMAZURA, horse face.
fish with a hard skin, which can be easily wrappef off. Eaten as Sashimi, with the liver in soysauce to dip.
CLICK here for PHOTOS !




Uonuma mochi 魚沼餅 mochi with rice from Uonuma town
Koganemochi 小金餅
This is the best rice in Japan to prepare mochi.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



wappa-han, wappameshi ワッパ飯
cooked rice and seafood are steamed in a bamboo basket

wappa-ni, wappani わっぱ煮 boiled in a wappa basket by placing hot stones into the broth of fish and vegetables
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



yukiguni maitake 雪国まいたけ
Sheep’s Head, Hen of the Woods
Grifola frondosa
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
This is a special brand from Niigata. It even has a corporation in America to sell these mushrooms.
Maitake mushrooms KIGO
vinegar from yukiguni maitake 雪国まいたけ絞り黒酢
maitake tempura まいたけ天ぷら
Reference : fresh Kosher maitake mushrooms




zenmai abura itame ぜんまい油炒め fern fried with oil
Osmunda japonica, Taubenfarn
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
see: sansai, mountain vegetables


zooni 雑煮 New Year Soup
prepared with salmon and chicken meat and plenty of local vegetables.
Mochi are also put into the soup. They say it is the best zooni of all Japan!


zuiki no sunomono ずいきの酢の物 cooked stem from yam
from the yam potato yatsugashira 八つ頭
Zuiki from Wakayama
芋茎（ずいき） Zuiki Taro and the 随喜 Zuiki Vegetable Festival



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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


麦秋や子を負ながらいはし売
mugi aki ya ko o oi-nagara iwashiuri

ripened barley--
with a child on her back
the sardine vendor

Kobayashi Issa

In a prescript for this haiku, Issa writes,
"Feeling pity for a woman from Echigo on a business journey."
Echigo is one of the old provinces of Japan, today's Niigata Prefecture. Mugi is a generic term that refers to several grains: wheat, barley, oats, and rye. Shinji Ogawa explains that the phrase "barley's autumn" (mugi no aki) refers, in fact, to the summer season. The name derives from the fact that ripened barley "is comparable to the sight of a rice field in autumn." The grain is ready for harvest, but the baby bundled on his or her mother's back is just starting life.

Not mentioned in the haiku, but implied, are the field workers to whom the mother is selling her sardines for their lunch break. The haiku presents a scene teeming with life: the field of golden grain, the hungry harvesters, the mother, the child.
Tr. and Comment : David Lanoue

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Makoto Ueda mentions in his book,
Dew on the Grass: The Life and Poetry of Kobayashi Issa,
that there is an earlier version of this poem in Issa's Eighth Diary:

iwashi mese mese to ya naku ko oinagara

"Sardines! Sardines!"
she calls, with a baby
crying on her back


Ueda points out, however, that this "poem is deficient as a hokku since it lacks a season word. The revised version [which Issa included in The Year of My Life] corrects that deficiency, creating a sense not only of the season but of the surrounding landscape."


Larry Bole, Translating Haiku Fourm



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Related words

***** WASHOKU : Regional Japanese Dishes

. Folk Toys from Niigata .

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Noppejiru Manpukuji

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
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Vegetable stew (noppejiru)

***** Location: Niigata, Japan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Vegetable broth with mixed ingredients, noppejiru
のっぺ汁




noppei のっぺい）「能平」 「濃餅」

The NOPPE of Niigata is not a soup, but a kind of stew or hodgepodge.
It is prepared from vegetables and dashi broth. Sometimes Kamaboko or salted salmon is added.

Often eaten on festival days, for the New Year and on funeral memorial days.


Noppejiru, the soup version, is served in many areas of Japan and prepared in this way:
Left-over stems and skins of vegetables used for other food are stir-fried in sesame oil and then made into a soup.
Other ingredients are then added according to the area, for example taro or yam, carrots, burdock, shiitake mushrooms and abura-age deep-fried bean curd. Soy sauce and salt are then added and some katakuriko starch to thicken the broth.
Sometimes chicken or fish pieces are added.

The origin is from temple food, when the cook-monks of the Obaku Zen-sect boiled vegetables and added kuzu starch for thickening, to prepare it in the way of Chinese fucha cooking
oobaku　黄檗宗


Fucha ryori, fucha ryoori, Chinese monk quisine
普茶料理
a kind of shoojn ryori, shoojin ryoori, monk quisine 精進料理.
see below.


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なお、長野県の佐久地方で明治まで割元の職を務めながら中山道を往来した大名に食事や宿を提供していた篠澤佐五右衛門家には、慶安元年（1648年）の献上料理の献立表が現存している。この文献によると小諸城主青山因幡守に篠澤佐五右衛門良重が料理を提供し、その中に「のっぺい汁」があった。記述によると、その汁は鍋仕立であり鴨肉が使われ、わさびが添えられていた。篠澤佐五右衛門家は当時から岩村田の今宿で連綿と宿を営み、今もこののっぺい汁を再現調理して提供をしている。またこの献立の文献は現在、佐久市立望月民族資料館にて公開されている。
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Another famous soup from Niigata is

banyajiru 番屋汁（ばんやじる) "soup of the guardian house"

It used to be cooked right at the harbor or beach at the guardian house (banya) of the area. Fish innards cut in small pieces, shells and mussles of the day's catch, some caggabe,leek and other available vegetables where dumped in hot water and salt or miso paste used as flavoring. It was brewed to warm the fisherman after coming back to land.

Wachthaus-Suppe

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Another speciality from Niigata

Sasadango 笹団子 (ささだんご)
Rice dumplings wrapped in sasa bamboo grass leaves

Originally a portable food during the Warring States period. Sasadango are made of mugwort-flavored glutionus rice (mochigome) and red beans, the paste is than wrapped in sasa leaves.
In former times, local families made them also during the holiday periods.


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way

Manpukuji, where Chinese cuisine took root in Japan

Temple played key role in spread of new ingredients, cooking techniques

UJI, Kyoto (Japan)
The deep-rooted influence of Chinese culture is easily spotted in contemporary Japan, but perhaps most obviously in the nation's food culture. Manpukuji temple, founded here by a Chinese monk in the 17th century, played an essential role in the spread of Chinese cuisine across the nation.

Zen-style calligraphy and portraiture techniques introduced from China by the temple's monks and devotees were highly regarded by Japan's cultural elite at the time, but none equalled the impact of
fucha ryori　普茶料理, the Chinese-style Buddhist vegetarian cuisine. Indeed, its impact is still keenly felt today.

"The cuisine has had an unequalled effect on the development of Kansai's food culture," says Chisei Tanaka, a priest and chief researcher at the temple's Obaku Cultural Research Institute. "It brought new ingredients and combined boiling, grilling and steaming procedures."

"[After the founding of Manpukuji temple] the nation experienced a major boom in fucha ryori--much more exuberant than what you see for French or Italian food now," Tanaka says.

Fucha ryori cuisine was also credited with popularizing techniques in deep-frying and stir-frying, which used large amounts of oil, then a luxury item. Its innovative style of dining using tables and Chinese tableware with an elaborate presentation was popular among the general public and feudal lords alike.

Manpukuji temple was established in 1661 by the Chinese monk Yinyuan Longqi (1592-1673), known as Ingen Ryuki in Japanese. He would later be recognized as the founder of Obaku, the last of the three Japanese Zen sects to be founded (the others are the Rinzai and Soto sects), and the first to be based on the teachings of a Chinese monk.

Ingen was well known in Japan before his arrival in the nation in 1654 at the age of 63, thanks to his many Zen-related writings, says Korei Okada, the current head priest of Manpukuji temple, which is still the Obaku sect's headquarters.

"Many Japanese monks rushed to see him after his arrival in Nagasaki [the only gateway from China at the time]," Okada says. "China was regarded as a cultured nation in what was a period of isolation for Japan, and his arrival caused an Obaku boom."

Ingen was accompanied to Nagasaki by Chinese disciples and artisans, including architects, sculptors, tailors and tofu makers. He also brought several foods that had never before been seen in Japan, such as kidney beans, watermelons and renkon (lotus root). The beans, used widely today, are called ingenmame in his honor.

His sermons at Nagasaki temples attracted crowds of monks as well as lay people and were received as a breath of fresh air by those disillusioned with the state of Buddhism in the nation. According to Okada, Japanese Buddhism circles were in disarray following a period of war, with gambling and other inappropriate behavior often being spotted at temples.

"Ingen, who strictly observed commandments prohibiting marriage and eating meat, was considered an ideal priest for Japanese monks to learn from, and many people visited him in Nagasaki, either to become his disciples or to meditate with him," Okada says.

Ingen was scheduled to return to China after three years, but extravagant efforts by his followers persuaded him to stay in Japan. He was introduced to the 4th shogun, Tokugawa Ietsuna (1641-1680), in 1658 and given land in Uji to build a Zen temple.

Ingen named the temple Manpukuji, which is written using the Chinese characters for "man" and "fuku," respectively meaning "ten thousand" and "fortune," just like Wanfu Temple in Fujian Province, where he had served as head priest before he left for Japan.

The foundation of the temple boosted Ingen's influence significantly, and many highly educated Chinese monks followed him to Japan to serve at Manpukuji temple and elsewhere. The Obaku sect was widely embraced, and at its peak had about 1,000 temples, creating a powerful base for promoting aspects of Chinese culture.

Most acclaimed of these was the original taste and exotic presentation of fucha ryori. In the Edo period (1603-1867), its popularity spread quickly, boosted by the publication of many cookbooks about the cuisine, and was entrenched by the opening of fucha ryori restaurants in Nagasaki, Osaka, Kyoto and Edo, present-day Tokyo.

"I believe people who were served fucha ryori at special events at that time must have sung its praises far and wide for its reputation to have been so widespread," Okada says.

Visitors to Manpukuji today also enjoy many other elements of Chinese culture the temple community helped to popularize and an atmosphere that has remained unchanged for about 350 years.

The close attention Ingen paid to reproducing the atmosphere of Chinese temples when overseeing the construction of Manpukuji is striking. The temple's three main halls stand lengthwise, perfectly aligned, with other buildings opposite them creating a powerful sense of symmetry, a layout typical of Chinese Zen Buddhist temples built during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

Most of the main buildings are remarkably well-preserved, having maintained their original structure since their construction in the 1660s.

Entering the temple through Sanmon gate--which still boasts original nameplates of the temple and the mountain, inscribed by Ingen himself--visitors walk a path of diamond-shaped stones toward the main attractions.

Dozens of Buddhist statues showcase the excellent craftsmanship of the Ming dynasty, the most famous of which is the wooden statue of Hotei, god of fortune, at Tennoden hall. About 110 centimeters tall and covered in gold leaf, it is a popular symbol of the temple and often appears on the cover of sightseeing magazines.

A 230-centimeter-long, fish-shaped gong hanging from the ceiling of Saido dining hall is struck by a monk with a wooden pole to announce daily events and rituals.

The Daiohoden hall, the nation's largest teak building, houses 18 unique statues of arhats (Buddhists who have attained enlightenment) and a seated statute of Shakanyorai, Manpukuji temple's principal image. At special exhibitions, visitors can view fascinating Chinese calligraphy scrolls and portraits of monks drawn in the realist Obaku style, with sharp lines and contrasting colors.

In the Hozoin temple, a collection of 60,000 printing blocks inscribed with more than 6,900 volumes of sutras is piled high on shelves. The blocks were made in a major project launched by Tetsugen Doko (1630-1682), one of Ingen's Japanese disciples, and feature the Ming typeface that even today remains the nation's most common typeface, seen everywhere in newspapers and books. The sutras are individually printed even now.

The temple's fascinating tours attract plenty of visitors, and many seize the opportunity to enjoy the experience of beautifully arranged, delicious and nutritious fucha ryori.

Fucha ryori was originally served to all the monks who gathered at meetings after major Buddhist rituals or services were completed.

During the rituals or services, five-colored vegetables, most often carrot, cucumber and Japanese radish, as well as deep-fried tofu, dried kelp, and manju sweet bean paste buns are offered to Buddhist altars or mortuary tablets. The foods bound with palm leaves and stood upright on stands are cooked and served to monks after the events end.　
（junkan 笋羹（じゅんかん) , shankon 上旬.)

Multiple dishes--a typical fucha ryori meal nowadays includes six or seven--are arranged on large communal plates for four diners, who serve themselves with their own chopsticks.

That no scrap of food is wasted is a fundamental teaching clearly reflected in fucha ryori. Scraps of vegetables can be sauteed to make unpen, which has a thick sauce. Dried-out manju are deep-fried and served as tomoe manju.

Gisho Ienaga, the tenzo monk who supervises culinary operations at the temple, says: "We try to meet diners' expectations of Kyoto cuisine. We serve a variety of dishes that are meticulously prepared and decorated with color and sophistication."

Among the dishes are shunkan 笋羹（じゅんかん junkan) --assorted simmered dishes, including vegetables rolled in a sheet of deep-fried tofu and hiryuzu, deep-fried tofu balls with chunky vegetables--
and yuji 油磁（ゆじ）, tempura vegetables with tomoe manju.

Seafood and meat products are of course prohibited, but some dishes are prepared to represent them symbolically. For example, tofu with grated burdock and yam can be shaped and colored with seaweed so it resembles broiled eel.

Kanken Kiyozumi, a priest who assists Ienaga, explains the delicate nature of the fucha ryori cooking process through the example of a sesame tofu dish made with nutritious kudzu starch.

"It's really difficult to make, because kudzu hardens easily and burns. I have to stir the mixture of sesame paste and kudzu constantly in a pot for about 20 minutes, until it hardens.

"The taste of the dish differs completely from day to day," Kiyozumi says. "Even when I think I've made it perfectly, I can feel the consistency is different when I cut it, so I've never been satisfied with the tofu I've made."
source : 　www.buddhistchannel.tv


mafu 「麻腐（まふ）, gomadoofu sesame tofu with sanshoo pepper
unpen 雲片（うんぺん） left over vegetables fried
kanpai 羹杯（かんぱい） hitashi type food
en , tsuai えん（菜）つぁい tsukemono pickles
hantsuu 飯子（はんつう) cooked rice

Vegetarian Temple Food (shoojin ryoori 精進料理)

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When leaving temple Manpukuji, the poetress Kikusha writes, summing up the Chinese atmosphere and the tea plantations:

山門を出れば日本ぞ茶摘うた
sanmon o dereba Nihon zo chatsumi uta

outside the temple gate
it's Japan again!
song of the tea pickers

. Tagami Kikusha 田上菊舎
(1753, August 23 -1826, September 24)

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トンネルの 上も日本や 茶摘み唄
tonneru no ue mo hihon ya chatsumi uta

above the tunnel
there is also Japan !
song of the tea pickers

尾木直樹 Ogi Naoki, 尾木ママ Ogi "Mama"
During a Haiku battle program with Natsuki Sensei - April 2017
プレバト才能ランキング



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Another temple with the name Manpukuji 満福寺 in Fukushima, Tohoku

御佛に尻むけ居れば月涼し
mihotoke ni shirimuke oreba tsuki suzushi

I turn my back
on the Buddha statue -
the moon is cool

. Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規 .


Shiki wrote an essay "hateshirazu no ki はて知らずの記" (kind of "never-ending story")
on his trip to Tohoku region (North-East Japan) during the 26th year of Meiji (1893). There is description that he stayed at a temple named Iidesan Manpukuji (飯出山満輻寺 / 満福寺). This haiku was written there.
He must have laid himself in the garden with the Buddha statue behind and looking at the moon....
- Thanks to Hideo Suzuki ! FB


正岡子規の句碑 - 竜護山萬福寺 Manpuku-Ji, Fukushima
Temple famous for its cherry blossoms
source : www.t-aterui.jp/fukushima



MORE haiku by Masaoka Shiki about
. Dead Body (hotoke) and mihotoke 御佛 .


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observance kigo for the New Year

Oobaku Hoozan 黄檗放参
Evening Zen at Oobaku Zen Temples


Other events in Januaray

New Years Ceremony 修正会 (Shushoe)
(January 1–3)

New Years Completion Ceremony 修正滿散会 (Shusho Mansan-e)
(January 3)

Rinzai Day Observance 臨濟忌 (Rinzai-ki)
(January 10)

Hyakujo Day Observance 百丈忌 (Hyakujo-ki)
(January 17)

Ceremonies Marking Special Months of Cultivation
善月祈禱会 (Zengetsu Kito-e)
(January 16, May 16, and September 16)

source : Rinzai - Annual Events


SAIJIKI – NEW YEAR OBSERVANCES


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HAIKU

のっぺ汁冷めても酒の肴なり
noppejiru samete mo sake no sakana nari

noppejiru soup -
even when cold it tastes
with my rice wine

source : 　www7.ocn.ne.jp
Tr. Gabi Greve

肴, this character reads sakana, but here refers to a snack with a drink.


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Related words

MORE
Dishes from Niigata 新潟郷土料理


***** WASHOKU : Regional Japanese Dishes

Shojin Ryori (shoojin ryoori) 精進料理
Vegetarian Temple Foodincluding
Fucha Ryori (fucha ryoori 普茶料理)

Tenzoo 典座 Tenzo kyokun, the Zen cook teachings

noppe
e
Vegegetarian Temple Food including
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