Hot pot & soups
Donko Jiru
Donko jiru — a miso soup built on a hardy coastal fish and its liver
Donko, formally called ezo-isoainame, a fish found from Hokkaido down to Fukushima's Hamadori coast, is simmered with daikon, napa cabbage, and carrot and finished with miso — a soup of Soma. It spoils fast enough that only locals eat it raw, and autumn through winter, when the liver fills out, is said to be its season.
- Origin: Fukushima Soma
- About 260 km northeast of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Donko, a fish found along the coast from Hokkaido down to Fukushima's Hamadori region, has its flesh and liver simmered with daikon, napa cabbage, and carrot in this Soma soup, finished with miso. The liver's rich savoriness melts into the broth for a deep, layered flavor, it's said. Because the fish spoils quickly, it's said that eating it raw is really only possible near where it's caught.
How it's made
Daikon, carrot, and napa cabbage are simmered in a pot, then prepped donko is added and simmered further, the basic method. Miso is dissolved in at the end to season the broth, and scallion is added for a final quick boil, it's said. Using both the flesh and the liver together is said to concentrate the broth's savoriness.
Why it took this shape
In communities along the Soma coast, donko, affordable and easy to come by, is said to have become a familiar fish supporting the everyday table. Because the fish's liver fills out in autumn and winter, its peak season, simmering the flesh and liver together and finishing with miso is thought to have grown into a local winter staple.
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 Fukushima
- Aizu RamenFlat, thick hand-made noodles in a clear soy broth. Said to trace back to a Aizuwakamatsu diner owner bringing home a taste learned in Yokohama — a second soy ramen lineage that grew up apart from Kitakata's, in the same Aizu region.
- Aizu Curry YakisobaA dish from Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima: sauce yakisoba topped with curry roux. It's said to trace to a diner called Tommy Food, which began ladling curry over its yakisoba, catching on especially among young diners for its low price and filling size.
- Aizu GyuSteers and heifers of Japanese Black raised in the Aizu basin, fed mainly local rice straw — the basin's sharp seasonal swings are said to suit fattening, making it Fukushima's leading brand.
- Aizu JidoriA lineage said to have been brought to Aizu by Heike clan refugees, saved from near-extinction and re-established through crossbreeding by Fukushima prefecture; reportedly fattened for 90 to 170 days.
- Aizu Sōsu KatsudonAizu's sauce katsudon, doused in a thick sweet-savory sauce. Its origin has several competing accounts, none settled, but all point to it being refined through everyday improvisation on Taisho-era Western food.
- Aizu Yamajio RamenSalt ramen seasoned with mountain salt drawn from hot-spring water — rounder than sea salt.