Hot pot & soups
Takenoko Jiru
Takenoko jiru — a miso soup of early-summer bamboo shoots and canned mackerel
A Joetsu-region miso soup made with hime-takenoko bamboo shoots, available only in early summer, and canned mackerel. Said to make lavish use of a fleeting mountain vegetable, some households reportedly used dried herring instead.
- Origin: Niigata
- About 210 km northwest of Tokyo
What it's made of
Tiny bamboo shoots available only in early summer are simmered slowly and carefully with canned mackerel in a hearty miso-based soup. The young shoots' crisp bite and faint sweetness blend with the richness and savor of the canned mackerel, and the whole thing is finished with beaten egg for a soft, gentle texture. Potato and carrot round it out into a satisfying, substantial bowl.
How it's made
Because these tiny bamboo shoots turn bitter quickly, they're carefully parboiled the same day they're picked. Potato, carrot, onion and other vegetables, along with plenty of canned mackerel, are added to a miso-based broth with the shoots and simmered thoroughly, then finished with beaten egg stirred in. A little sake lees is sometimes added for extra depth.
Why it took this shape
Found only in this deep mountain region, these bamboo shoots are a rare treat with a season limited to just a brief window, long anticipated by local people. In this inland area far from fresh seafood, the wisdom of combining shelf-stable canned or dried fish to make up for richness and protein is said to have been cultivated and refined over a long time.
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 Niigata
- AnboA Chuetsu-region dish of steamed rice-flour dumplings filled with sweet bean paste, pickled greens or eggplant. Similar in spirit to Nagano's oyaki but distinguished by its rice-flour skin, reflecting land suited to rice rather than wheat.
- Echigo misoA red, savory miso from Niigata, also called 'ukikoji miso' (floating-koji miso) because its polished whole-grain rice koji appears to float within the paste. Its style is said to vary across Niigata's Joetsu, Chuetsu, Kaetsu, and Sado districts, each shaped by local climate.
- Fugu no Ko no KasuzukeA rare Sado delicacy in which puffer fish ovaries are salt-cured for two years or more, then aged for a long stretch in Sado's sake lees. Only ovaries processed by licensed fugu chefs are sold, and the practice is said to date back to the Edo period.
- Fukashi NasuA Niigata dish of kinchaku eggplant halved, steamed, chilled and eaten with mustard or ginger soy sauce. In a prefecture among Japan's top eggplant producers, it is said to have been valued as a cooling dish through the summer.
- Hegi SobaA soba from Ojiya, Niigata, that uses funori seaweed, the same binder once used to size thread for the region's textiles, as a noodle binder. It is arranged in small bite-sized portions on a wooden box called a hegi.
- Hiyashijiru Miso JitateA chilled soup from the Chuetsu region, dashi thinned with miso and studded with chopped cucumber and shiso. Devised to stay appetizing through the summer heat, it is said to be eaten on its own or poured over rice or noodles.