Hot pot & soups
Tara Jiru
Tara jiru — whole cod miso soup
Whole Pacific cod — flesh, bones, liver, and milt — simmers with scallion in a miso broth, a winter staple said to be served at Nikaho's 300-year-old cod festival, 'kakeyo matsuri', at Konoura Yama Shrine.
- Origin: Akita Nikaho
- About 390 km north of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
A staple winter dish from Akita: cold-season cod that has come to shallow water to spawn, simmered with green onion in a miso-based broth. Using the whole fish—flesh, trimmings, liver, and milt—is said to draw out a rich broth. Low-fat, high-protein flesh and the soft texture of the milt, wrapped in the miso's flavor, are said to warm the body from within.
How it's made
Cod and green onion are simply seasoned with miso and sake and simmered together. The ingredients are essentially just cod and green onion, and using a whole fish to draw out a rich broth is said to be the defining trait. Leftover milt is sometimes parboiled and eaten with ginger and soy sauce, it is said. It is an unadorned soup that lets the ingredient's own flavor carry the dish.
Why it took this shape
In Akita, cod ranks alongside sailfin sandfish as a defining winter fish, and the period around early February, when it comes to shallow water to spawn, is said to be when it carries the most fat and tastes best. In Nikaho, a traditional rite offering cod to the local shrine on the first day of spring, praying for a good catch and safety at sea, is said to be followed by a custom of serving this soup afterward.
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
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.