Fermented & preserved
Oname
Oname — a fermented barley-and-soybean relish eaten with rice
A fermented relish of barley malt and soybeans that keeps for months in the fridge, a pantry staple centered on Chichibu. Salted eggplant or shiitake are mixed in, and its saltiness coaxes appetite through the summer heat.
- Origin: Saitama Chichibu
- About 70 km northwest of Tokyo
What it's made of
Barley koji fermented with soybeans makes this strongly salted ferment. Its sticky texture concentrates the fragrance of the koji and the savor unique to fermentation, giving a rich, deeply flavored condiment said to make rice disappear, satisfying even in a small spoonful.
How it's made
Salt, sugar, and water are brought to a boil, then cooled to body temperature before a barley-and-soybean koji starter is stirred in and left to ferment in a storage container. Stirring daily is said to finish it in one to two weeks, though leaving it unstirred is said to give a cleaner result, with seasonal ingredients sometimes added for extra flavor.
Why it took this shape
Keeping for more than half a year in the refrigerator, the ferment is said to have been prized as a preserve, valued as a pantry staple to spur the appetite during a farming household's busy season or the hot summer months. Seasonal touches like butterbur sprout or myoga are said to be added, a custom that varies by household, some of which still make their own koji starter.
Dishes in the same style
- Achara ZukeWhite melon, eggplant, and lotus root are pickled in a sweet vinegar spiked with red chili — the name is said to trace to the Portuguese 'achar', carried in through Hakata Bay's old trade, and an odd number of vegetables is used for Obon hospitality.
- AhodakiOld takuan pickle, once its flavor and aroma have faded, is desalted and simmered again in soy sauce, a pantry staple from the Hokusei area. Its name — playfully self-deprecating, roughly "doing a foolish thing" — nods to eating it well past its prime, a frugal way to waste nothing.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Saitama
- Sakekasu Miso RamenA winter-only ramen from Ageo City, where sake lees from a long-running local brewery are worked into a Chinese restaurant's miso broth. The lees' depth and aroma layer over the miso's savoriness, leaving a mellow finish that warms the body in the cold months.
- Dojo NiPond loach caught in the paddies of eastern Saitama, simmered sweet and savory with shaved burdock, from a land fed by the Arakawa and Tone rivers. Rich in nutrients, it was valued as a tonic and a food for pregnant women.
- Gyoda Furai"Furai" from around Gyoda, Saitama, despite its name, isn't fried — it's grilled. Chopped scallion and pork go on a wheat-flour batter cooked on a griddle, an okonomiyaki-like snack said to have caught on with the women working the town's tabi-sock factories.
- Higashimatsuyama YakitoriPork cheek grilled over charcoal and brushed with a spicy miso sauce.
- HiyajiruSesame and miso ground in a mortar, mixed with summer vegetables like cucumber and shiso, then chilled with cold water. It serves as a dipping broth for udon in noodle-loving Saitama, and Kawajima town calls it suttate.
- Iga ManjuA sweet bean bun wrapped in red rice and steamed, said to originate in Konosu. Named for its resemblance to a spiky chestnut burr, it balances a sweet-salty flavor with a chewy bite.