Meat ── Brand pork
Daisen Ruby
a Tottori-bred cross of local red pig and black Berkshire
Bred at Tottori Prefecture's livestock station by crossing a sow of the oleic-acid-rich Daisen Akabuta line with a Berkshire boar, said to inherit both breeds' fat quality and tenderness.
- Origin: Tottori Daisen
- About 560 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Bred from a red-coated sow line crossed with a black Berkshire boar, said to inherit both the sow's fat quality and the boar's tenderness. High in oleic acid, the fat is said to melt easily, and the lean meat stays soft — as if each parent's strong point were gathered into one pig, with its color said to stay consistent across cuts.
How it's made
Bred at Tottori Prefecture's livestock station by crossing a sow of the oleic-acid-rich Daisen Akabuta line with a Berkshire boar — a planned cross said to be designed to combine both parents' strengths, taking time at the station to stabilize into a reliable line. The name is said to fold in both the mountain, Daisen, and the ruby-red hint of the sow line's coat.
Why it took this shape
The foothills of Mt. Daisen are said to be pasture-and-livestock country, home to the local Daisen Akabuta line long raised there. Crossing that regional line with a separate black-pig lineage to build a wholly new breed reads as one complete form of a prefecture staking its own name on an original pig — not just crossing existing lines, but branding the result under a place name as a deliberate act of ambition.
Before you go
Dishes in the same style
- AitonA breeding line improved by Aichi Prefecture from three strains of stock pig. Several of the prefecture's local brand porks, including Mikawa Pork, are said to be built on this base.
- Awa BitonRaised in the mountains of Awa City, Tokushima, at about 400 meters, on a feed centered on rice. Handlers are said to adjust the feed mix daily and avoid genetically modified crops where possible.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Tottori
- Ago ChikuwaChikuwa made from the surimi of flying fish, called "ago" in Tottori. A knife through the firm grilled skin sends up a fragrant crackle, and it turns out darker than ordinary chikuwa. It's a taste of early summer, in season through the fish's spawning run from spring into summer.
- Akagarei no KomaburiRoe-bearing red flounder is sliced into sashimi and tossed with its own boiled, crumbled eggs, a dish from around the Amijiro area of Iwami Town. Said to have descended from a similar dish made with crucian carp roe, it pairs rich eggs with mild, fatty winter flounder for festivals and New Year's.
- Azuki ZouniSoft round rice cakes are added to a broth of simmered red beans, the mainstream style of New Year's zoni in Tottori. Red beans have long been thought to ward off misfortune, and the dish is said to be simmered on New Year's morning with the year's first water and a purified flame, then shared among family.
- Daisen-doriA branded chicken said to be raised end-to-end, from breeding stock to processing, by producers at the foot of Mount Daisen — free-ranged longer than usual on an antibiotic-free feed aimed at balancing fat and flavor.
- Daisen OkowaShiitake, burdock, and chicken are cooked into sticky rice seasoned with soy, a dish from the foot of Mount Daisen. Said to trace back to warrior monks preparing it before battle to pray for victory, it was later served at the horse-and-cattle market by Daisen-ji temple and carried on into festivals and hospitality since.
- Dondoroke MeshiNamed for the crackling sound of tofu frying in hot oil, likened to thunder — "dondoroke" in local dialect — this is a rice dish from eastern and central Tottori. It's said to date to when each hamlet had its own tofu shack turning home-grown soybeans into tofu, using nothing but local ingredients.