Meat ── Brand pork
Olive Yumebuta
Sanuki brand pork fattened on Kagawa's olive by-product
Sanuki Yumebuta, built on Berkshire stock brought from England in 1994, given a feed mixed with leaves and pressed residue left over from Shodoshima's olive processing.
- Origin: Kagawa Shodoshima
- About 530 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Raised on Sanuki Yumebuta — a Berkshire-based line — fed a formula mixed with leaves and pressed residue from Shodoshima's olive processing, said to add a faint fruity sweetness to the fat, along with a lighter mouthfeel and a trace of aroma in the finish. The lean meat is said to stay firm without turning tough, and the fat's clear color is noted as part of the appeal.
How it's made
Built on Sanuki Yumebuta, itself based on Berkshire stock brought from England in 1994, given a feed mixed with leaves and pressed residue left over from Shodoshima's olive processing — a fruit-derived sweetness said to carry into the fat, arrived at through trial and error on the ratio. Several farms across Kagawa are said to share the same standard in raising it.
Why it took this shape
Shodoshima is known for olive growing, and finding a use for the leaves and press residue left over from pressing oil is said to have been a standing question. Linking hog farming across the strait to the island's olive industry through feed reads as Kagawa turning a local resource that might otherwise go to waste into a brand, staking out a character distinct from other prefectures' named porks by centering it on olives.
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 Kagawa
- Aji no SanbaiAji (horse mackerel) is grilled until lightly charred, then steeped in a three-part vinegar dressing sharpened with chili and ginger. The vinegar is said to soften the bones enough to eat whole, and the dish has long served as a summer festival accompaniment to drinks around the Seto Inland Sea.
- Anmochi ZoniA New Year zoni made by simmering daikon, kintoki carrot, and a round rice cake filled with sweet red bean paste in dried-sardine broth, finished with white miso. Said to have begun as a once-a-year treat using sugar, once a costly commodity in the Edo period.
- Ebi Miso JiruSmall shell-on shrimp are pureed with rice rinse water, then simmered with white miso and tofu. Served as part of the roughly 300-year-old sacred sake festival at Uga Shrine in Toyonaka, Mitoyo, where it has long accompanied the shrine's home-brewed doburoku.
- Hage DangoFreshly milled new-wheat dumplings are coated in a simple red-bean paste. Traditionally made around Hangeshō, the early-July turning point when the rains break, as thanks for the season's farm work, and offered to household gods before the family eats.
- Ikanago shoyuA fish sauce fermented from sand lance and salt for six months or more, mainly produced in the Aji district of Takamatsu, Kagawa. It is said to have disappeared for a time before local volunteers revived production around 1998, and it is counted among Japan's three great fish sauces.
- ImotakoOctopus from the Seto Inland Sea and taro are simmered together in a simple seasoned broth. Once reserved for New Year and wedding feasts, it is said to have become an everyday side dish today.