Hot pot & soups
Gube Jiru
Gube jiru — a miso soup of limpets gathered from Mishima's rocky shore
Gube—small limpets, two to three centimeters across, gathered from rocky shores and breakwaters—are simmered into both the stock and the filling of this miso soup. It comes from Mishima, an island about 45 kilometers off Hagi's coast, where it was eaten not only by fishing families but by farming households near the shore.
- Origin: Yamaguchi Hagi (Mishima)
- About 790 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
Gube—small limpets, two to three centimeters across, gathered from rocky shores and breakwaters—are simmered into both the stock and the filling of this miso soup. A deep, briny flavor spreads through the broth, and the shellfish's firm, slightly springy bite carries the dish. Called "gube" on Mishima and "bebe" in areas like Oi, Koshigahama, and Susa, the soup increasingly includes goose barnacles or small sea snails as gube itself has become harder to gather.
How it's made
Gube are washed thoroughly, then dropped into boiling water and simmered briefly. The broth is seasoned with white or other miso, with a little salt added if needed. Wakame is sometimes stirred in before serving, though many versions leave it out and let the gube stand on its own. Not overcooking the shellfish appears to be the key to preserving their flavor.
Why it took this shape
Mishima, an island roughly 45 kilometers off Hagi's coast, sits in the path of the warm Tsushima Current and lands a wide variety of seafood, and drawing daily meals from the shore's bounty is said to be deeply rooted in island life. Eaten not only by fishing households but by farming families near the coast as well, the soup appears to have settled into a form that uses a readily available shellfish for both stock and filling with nothing wasted. At inns on the island, serving it in a large bowl at breakfast is said to be the custom.
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.
- At yakiniku, shabu-shabu, and hot potGrilling your own meat at yakiniku, swishing thin slices at shabu-shabu, and sharing from the pot — the customs behind each.
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
Also from Yamaguchi
- Chikin Chikin GoboBite-size fried chicken and deep-fried burdock are tossed in a sweet soy glaze in this dish, born in Yamaguchi's school lunches. A nutrition teacher is said to have devised it around 1995 from recipes submitted by families, and its catchy, rhythmic name helped it spread into a statewide favorite.
- Chisha NamasuKakichisha, an heirloom crinkled lettuce grown around Shimonoseki, is torn by hand and tossed with vinegared miso, flaked grilled fish, or whitebait. It is said to have been devised by the Mori domain's people after being impoverished by the Battle of Sekigahara, and is also known as "chishamomi."
- Choshu KurokashiwaSaid to draw on the blood of Kurokashiwa, a natural-monument fowl native to Yamaguchi and Shimane, developed into a jidori by a Yamaguchi research station and finished and named by a poultry farm; reportedly free-ranged for 80–100 days.
- Fugu no KaraagePufferfish, marinated in soy sauce and sake, is coated in potato starch and deep-fried—a homely dish from the Shimonoseki and Hagi areas. While pricier tiger pufferfish goes into sashimi and hot pot, the more affordable shirosabafugu species is the one most often fried this way.
- Fuku SashiPufferfish sashimi is sliced so thin it becomes translucent, then arranged in a chrysanthemum pattern in this Shimonoseki dish. Locals call the fish "fuku," a homophone for good fortune, and eat it with citrus ponzu and scallion; the practice traces to 1888, when eating pufferfish was legalized in Yamaguchi alone.
- GobomakiLizardfish skin, a byproduct of making fish cakes, is wrapped around a skewer of burdock root and grilled with a basting sauce—a dish from Hagi. Because it uses lizardfish, prized for the region's grilled fish cakes, seafood processors often make the two together, and it is a fixture of festival and cherry-blossom bento.