Hot pot & soups
Donko Jiru
Donko jiru — miso soup with brown hakeling
Donko, a brown hakeling landed at Ishinomaki and Kesennuma ports, is simmered in miso with daikon and tofu — a fish said to be considered lucky for money, given its wide mouth and narrow tail, and offered at the autumn ebisu-ko festival.
- Origin: Miyagi Kesennuma
- About 390 km northeast of Tokyo
What it's made of
A miso soup built on donko, Gadus macrocephalus-like rockling common along the Sanriku coast, simmered with daikon, carrot, potato and tofu. The fish firms up in winter as its liver takes on more fat, it is said, offering both a clean white flesh and a rich liver in the same bowl. The mild flesh is considered good for recovery after childbirth and has long been eaten to restore strength.
How it's made
Daikon, carrot and potato are cut into large pieces and simmered first, then chunks of donko and its liver are added and gently cooked, followed by tofu, miso seasoning, and scallion at the end. Handling the liver with care is said to add a rich depth to the broth. In season, fish shops and supermarkets sell it already prepared for soup or hot pot.
Why it took this shape
Donko is considered a lucky fish for saving money, said to take in plenty through its large mouth while releasing little through its small tail, and in the Kesen area a custom survives of offering a whole donko soup, head and tail intact, to the gods on the twentieth day of the tenth lunar month, the Ebisu festival, to pray for a good catch. Some areas eat it at the autumn harvest-closing niwajimai as well, a custom thought to be tied to gratitude for the sea's bounty.
Before you go
- Foods to look for in winterA guide to foods often seen in Japan around winter — nabe hot pot, fugu, oysters, crab, year-end soba, and osechi — with rough pointers for finding them.
- Osechi and zoni for the New YearA guide to the meaning behind osechi's tiered boxes, the regional differences in zoni (square vs. round mochi, clear vs. miso broth), and the nanakusa-gayu custom.
- Setsubun: ehomaki and lucky beansA guide to ehomaki, the uncut sushi roll said to be eaten facing a lucky direction on Setsubun, and to mamemaki, the bean-throwing custom with roasted lucky beans.
Dishes in the same style
- Aichi Miso OdenA pot of sweet red miso sits in the center of the simmering pot, and daikon, tofu, and other ingredients simmered in dashi are dipped into it before eating. While soy-based Kanto-style oden spread in Edo, Aichi is said to have settled on dipping in soybean miso instead.
- Aichi ZoniSquare mochi and mochina, a traditional Owari green, are served in a plain clear broth for New Year — a notably simple zoni. It's speculated that using miso so often in daily cooking is exactly why a clear broth is chosen for this festive occasion, deliberately leaving miso out.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Contrast
- Ofunato Sanma RamenStock drawn from the saury landed here in volume — raised into a town specialty during the recovery.
- GojiruSoybeans soaked overnight are ground into a paste called 'go' and stirred into a miso soup of taro, daikon, and fried tofu — said to be a winter home dish in Miyagi, the country's second-largest soybean-growing prefecture.
- Nameta Garei NitsukeA large, notably slick flounder is cut into steaks and simmered in a soy-based sauce, eaten from New Year's Eve through the new year — said to have become a lucky dish in Sendai for its golden roe and the way it plumps up in winter.
Also from Miyagi
- Aburafu DonDeep-fried wheat gluten, shaped into a log, is simmered in a sweet-savory broth and set with egg over rice, katsudon-style — a Tome City bowl said to trace to a tofu shop's shelf-stable gluten product, later turned into a bowl dish by a local innkeeper.
- AzaraNapa cabbage pickled long enough to turn sour is simmered slowly with rockfish trimmings and sake lees — a Kesennuma dish said to taste even better cold, or reheated the next day, long loved as everyday food.
- Bakke MisoButterbur sprouts picked in early spring — called 'bakke' locally — are boiled, chopped, and worked into a paste with walnuts and miso, said to be prized for helping clear the body of winter's buildup, spooned over rice or grilled fish.
- Ebi MochiPaddy shrimp caught in irrigation channels and ponds are seasoned with soy sauce and sake, then folded whole into freshly pounded mochi — a Kurihara dish said to be served, red against white, to guests over New Year's.
- Fusube MochiLoach, grilled plain then smoked over an irori hearth, is ground to powder and simmered with grated daikon and burdock in a soy-chili sauce, then folded into freshly pounded mochi — said to be a mochi dish born of inland Kurihara's distance from the sea.
- GanzukiWheat flour is worked with dark brown sugar, baking soda, and vinegar, then steamed into a plain sweet bread — light yet filling, said to be named for a resemblance to wild goose meat, an everyday snack in Miyagi.