Noodles
Ozara
Ozara — hoto's cold summer cousin, thin noodles dipped in warm broth
Noodles cut thinner than hoto are boiled, rinsed cold, then dipped into a warm soy-based broth — Yamanashi's answer to its basin summers. Even hoto specialty shops are said to swap it in during the hottest months.
- Origin: Yamanashi
- About 110 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Noodles cut thinner than hoto are boiled once, rinsed firm in cold water, then dipped into a warm soy-based broth. The contrast between the cool, smooth-sliding noodles and the warm broth is said to be the appeal. As a way to get through the basin's fierce summer heat, it's said to replace hoto on the table during those months.
How it's made
Wheat flour is kneaded with salt and warm water, then left to rest under a damp cloth for about 30 minutes. The dough is rolled thin on a board and cut as fine as possible, boiled in plenty of water, and then rinsed firm in cold water, people say. The dipping broth is often loaded with meat, seasonal vegetables, and mushrooms, it's said.
Why it took this shape
In a basin climate that swings from bitter winter cold to fierce summer heat, the idea of serving the noodles cold rather than simmered hot in the usual hoto style is said to have arisen specifically for the hot months. Boiling once and rinsing firm in cold water is said to make the noodles slip down easier, welcome when the heat saps the appetite. In an age when rice was precious, it's also said to have served as a summer treat in its own right.
Before you go
- How to read a ticket machineShops that use a ticket machine (shokken-ki) often place their most popular items in a similar spot.
- Foods to look for in summerA guide to foods often seen in Japan around summer — eel on the Day of the Ox, hiyashi chuka, somen, shaved ice, edamame with beer, and hamo — with rough pointers for finding them.
- What staff say, and how to respondCommon set phrases you'll hear at restaurants, with what they mean and what to do when you hear them. You don't need to memorize them — just recognizing them is enough.
Dishes in the same style
- Abura SobaNo broth is poured at all — noodles are tossed in a soy-and-sesame-oil tare pooled at the bottom of the bowl, said to have started at shops in the Musashino area in the late 1950s, with vinegar and chili oil stirred in partway through.
- Abura ZomenPork and somen are fried together with a splash of broth, the oil and stock emulsifying into a silky coat on the noodles. Just how somen took root in wheat-free Amami isn't clear, but the dish is a fixture whenever people gather, not least for the August Dance festival.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Yamanashi
- Akebono Daizu no EdamameThe 'akebono' soybean, said to be 1.6 times the size of an ordinary bean, is picked young and salt-boiled — an edamame from the Akebono area of Minobu town. Grown since the Meiji era but resistant to mechanization, aging growers have made it scarce enough to be called a 'phantom bean'.
- Amanatto no OsekihanMade without azuki or cowpea beans, glutinous rice is dyed red with food coloring and mixed with candied sweet beans — a Yamanashi take on celebratory red rice, sweet-salty with a sprinkle of sesame salt. A similarly sweet red rice is said to exist far away in Hokkaido and parts of Tohoku.
- AnbinSweet potato and wheat flour are kneaded with hot water, wrapped around bean paste, slapped flat, and steamed — a sweet from the Kyonan region. Its name is said to come from the slapping motion, revived in Ichikawamisato town's Rokugo area after a local school's closure sparked a heritage-food effort.
- Awabi no NigaiAbalone from Suruga Bay was soy-sauce-marinated and hauled in barrels by horse, the jostling and body heat said to have worked the flavor deep in — a specialty from landlocked Kofu. Sliced thin and paired with its liver, shiso, and cucumber, it endures as a taste of the sea inland.
- Azuki HotoHoto noodles, cut thicker than usual, are simmered in sweet azuki bean soup in place of mochi — a festival food in Yamanashi. The summer festival at Miwa Shrine in Hokuto city's Wakamiko area is nicknamed the 'hoto festival', and azuki's red color is said to ward off misfortune.
- Hirauchi TanmenA salt-based tanmen from Kofu, Yamanashi, built on wide, flat noodles said to feel almost like fettuccine. Bean sprouts, pork, and napa cabbage pile on top for a vegetable-heavy bowl carried on today by several shops around the prefecture.