Hot pot & soups
Tsuboni
Tsuboni — dried fern shoots simmered with root vegetables
Dried fern shoots called kugomi are rehydrated and simmered in soy-based dashi with carrot, taro, and fried tofu — said to have originated as a Buddhist vegetarian dish served at lodgings for Mount Tateyama pilgrims, named for the lidded lacquer bowl it was served in.
- Origin: Toyama Tateyama
- About 250 km northwest of Tokyo
What it's made of
Dried kogomi — young ostrich fern shoots — rehydrated and simmered in a soy-based broth with carrot, taro, and fried tofu. The kogomi's soft, slightly slick texture lends body to the broth, and each bite is said to carry a faint bitterness and umami particular to a young mountain shoot. The contrast with the mealy taro adds another layer — a deeply nourishing dish.
How it's made
Dried kogomi is boiled to rehydrate, then soaked in water for about two days to remove bitterness. Carrot, taro, and fried tofu are cut into bite-sized pieces. The kogomi and carrot are stir-fried in oil before dashi and the rest of the ingredients are added and simmered. Once tender, soy sauce and other seasonings round out the flavor before a final slow simmer — the stir-frying step is said to be what draws out the umami.
Why it took this shape
In a district facing a mountain regarded as one of the country's sacred peaks, the dish is said to have once been served as part of the austere temple-lodging cuisine offered to pilgrims. The practice of drying short-seasoned mountain greens so they can be eaten year-round is said to have long supported life in these mountain villages, and that same austere spirit is said to live on in the dish as an everyday household meal today.
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 Toyama
- Bai no NimonoWhelks from the deep waters of Toyama Bay are simmered whole in their shells — said to appear at celebrations thanks to a play on words suggesting doubled good fortune, with smaller whelks simmered and larger ones eaten raw.
- BekkoMelted agar is seasoned with soy sauce and mirin, then set with egg trailed in like threads — its amber color flecked with egg said to resemble a tortoiseshell hair ornament, giving the dish its name; in the west of the prefecture it goes by "yubeshi" instead.
- BurishabuThin slices of yellowtail are swished briefly through kelp broth, said to cook only the surface while leaving the center rare — versions using Himi's branded winter yellowtail are considered a particularly luxurious cold-weather treat.
- Genge no MisoshiruEelpout, a deep-sea fish covered in a gelatinous layer, is cut into chunks and simmered into a miso soup — long treated as an unwanted bycatch of sweet shrimp fishing, its flavor has since been reappraised and spread beyond the fishing villages that first ate it.
- Himi UdonA hand-stretched udon developed in Himi, Toyama, in the mid-Edo period by adapting somen-making techniques from Wajima. It was once presented to the Kaga domain as tribute.