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Tonburi Nagaimo Ae
Tonburi nagaimo ae — kochia seeds tossed with grated yam
Tonburi — the tiny, crunchy seeds of kochia, dried and hulled through a laborious process — are tossed with julienned mountain yam and a dash of soy sauce. Odate, the only place in Japan that produces it, is said to have kept the technique alive for generations.
- Origin: Akita Odate
- About 520 km north of Tokyo
What it's made of
A dish from Odate: dried, peeled seeds of kochia, called "tonburi," tossed with julienned mountain yam. Its fish-roe-like pop earns it the nickname "caviar of the fields," and paired with the yam's smooth stickiness it makes for a light dish, it is said. Mild and unassuming in flavor, it is said to taste good with nothing more than a splash of soy sauce.
How it's made
Julienned mountain yam is tossed with lightly rinsed tonburi, finished with soy sauce to taste. Tonburi itself takes a labor-intensive process to make—dried, boiled, peeled, then rinsed and rubbed repeatedly to remove debris. It is eaten in many ways: tossed with tuna or cucumber, spooned over rice or tofu, or mixed into rice balls, it is said.
Why it took this shape
In Odate, said to be the only place in the country where it is produced, eating tonburi is said to date back to the Edo period. Its resemblance to the roe of sailfin sandfish, once called "kara-buriko" for its supposed Chinese origin, is said to be behind the name "tonburi," a corruption of that term, and a special processing method passed down for generations is thought to be why it survives as an Odate specialty today.
Before you go
- How to shop at a supermarketHow to choose prepared foods, sashimi, and packaged sushi, when discount stickers tend to appear, region-only specialties, buying by weight, the checkout and bagging flow, and sampling etiquette at a local supermarket.
- Food for Obon and the harvest moon (tsukimi)A guide to the meat-free shojin ryori and somen served at Obon, and the tsukimi dango offered on the night of the harvest moon.
- At teishoku diners, shokudo, and machi-chukaA guide to the teishoku set-meal format, free rice refills, table placement, and paying at a shokudo-style diner.
Dishes in the same style
- Agonoko UmaniThe roe of egg-bearing flying fish, caught only in early summer, is simmered in stock and soy sauce as an Oki bar snack. Its large grains and dense, sticky texture are prized as a delicacy said to be scarcer even than the fish's flesh.
- Funa MisoCrucian carp is simmered slowly with soybeans for around five hours, then finished in a sauce of red miso and coarse sugar. A freshwater fish dish of the Kiso rivers' lower basin, made with fatty winter carp simmered until the bones soften through.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Akita
- Akazushi (Akazuke)Cooked glutinous rice cured briefly in red shiso and vinegar — an Akita sushi with no fish in it at all, a plant-based cousin of narezushi also offered at Obon altars.
- AsazukeBroken rice grains are pureed, simmered, and seasoned sweet-and-sour with sugar and vinegar, then mixed with cucumber, turnip, and seasonal fruit — a summer dessert unrelated to the pickle of the same name, said to refresh women after a day planting rice.
- Edokei RamenA soy ramen topped with a knob of bright red chili miso built on garlic and garlic chives. Stirred in gradually as you eat, it turns a mild bowl steadily richer and spicier — a specialty of Akita City.
- Akita HoshimochiSliced mochi is strung up, soaked in water, then left to freeze and thaw through the winter cold in a process called 'kanjime' — the result crisp and filling, said to have fueled breaks during rice-planting season.
- Imonoko JiruBaby taro corms called 'imonoko' simmer with chicken, mushrooms, and wild greens in miso or soy — an autumn soup said to use taro grown in Yokote's Sannai district, prized for its soft bite, and set alongside kiritanpo nabe as the region's autumn counterpart.
- Akita no SakeAkita sake, brewed with soft water in deliberate contrast to Nada's hard water, aiming for a mellow, delicate character. Breweries buried in snow are said to gain a natural insulating effect from it, a tradition of slow, low-temperature fermentation built around that climate.