Hot pot & soups
Uchimame Jiru
Uchimame jiru — miso soup with hand-pounded flattened soybeans
Soybeans, steamed and hand-flattened one by one with a wooden mallet before drying, are simmered with turnip and taro into a miso soup from Lake Biwa's snowy north. Once a vital winter protein source, it is also served at Buddhist memorial gatherings.
- Origin: Shiga
- About 320 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
Uchimame-jiru is a miso soup of turnip, daikon, taro, and other vegetables simmered with uchimame, soybeans steamed and then pounded flat, one at a time with a wooden mallet, into a flower shape. Pounding the beans this way is said to help them cook faster, soak up flavor more readily, and release more of their own savor into the broth. The dish is said to have spread mainly through the snowy Hokubu area, valued as a crucial source of protein for getting through harsh winters.
How it's made
Soybeans are washed and soaked in water for about an hour, then boiled in hot water. While still hot, they're put in a plastic bag and left to steam for about five hours, then pounded flat one by one with a wooden mallet to make uchimame. These go into a pot and are pre-simmered in miso and dashi before turnip, taro, fried tofu, and other ingredients are added for a further simmer. In the Azuchi area of Omi-Hachiman, some households reportedly add taro stem, tofu, and Nobunaga scallion.
Why it took this shape
Uchimame-jiru is said to be often served as okoshiru at hoonko, the memorial gathering for the priest Shinran. In the Shimotoyoura area of Azuchi, Omi-Hachiman, it's reportedly made as a ritual soup to welcome pilgrims heading to Ise on an Ise-ko pilgrimage. In the snowy Hokubu area, where sources of protein were limited through the winter, pounding the soybeans to help them cook faster is thought to be what shaped this dish.
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
Contrast
- Itoko NiAzuki beans are simmered with taro or pumpkin in a slightly sweet broth, traditionally made for Buddhist memorial gatherings and the winter solstice. The pumpkin version is favored around Lake Biwa's east shore, the taro version in the north.
- Dongame JiruEggplant scored with a crosshatch pattern is simmered in dashi, then finished with miso and ground sesame. Said to originate in the merchant town of Gokasho, the name compares the muddy look of the sesame in the broth and the eggplant's scored skin to a turtle's shell.
- Bon JiruA miso soup packed with seasonal vegetables such as burdock, eggplant, and pumpkin. Following Zen Buddhist practice of avoiding killing during Obon, it skips bonito or dried-fish stock, relying instead on fried tofu and a generous mix of vegetables for its savor.
Also from Shiga
- Aka Konnyaku NiKonjac dyed reddish with iron oxide, a specialty of Omi-Hachiman, is pan-simmered with bonito flakes and soy sauce. The color holds even after cooking, and the dish is a fixture at ceremonial meals and school lunches alike.
- Amenoio GohanA whole Lake Biwa trout, migrating upstream to spawn, is set atop rice and cooked together; "amenoio" means "rain fish," a name tied to the trout's autumn run after rainfall. The flesh and roe are flaked and mixed through the rice, traditionally made in large pots for gatherings.
- Biwamasu SashimiBiwamasu, a trout found only in Lake Biwa, is filleted and served raw as sashimi. The fish grows richest from early to midsummer and is prized locally as "the jewel of Lake Biwa" — a fish so scarce that it rarely reaches markets beyond the lakeshore.
- Chojifu no Karashi AeChojifu, a square baked wheat gluten unique to Shiga, is paired with cucumber and dressed in mustard-miso vinegar. The gluten also appears in Buddhist vegetarian meals, and its chewy texture with a refreshing tang makes the dish a staple at family gatherings.
- Ebi MameFreshwater shrimp from Lake Biwa are simmered sweet-savory with soybeans. Inexpensive and long-keeping, the dish is eaten as everyday fare, but is also served at New Year's with a wish for long life — that one might live, like the bent-backed shrimp, into old age.