Kawajima Town, Iruma area, northern part of the prefecture

Vegetables

Cold soup" is a local dish that has developed in various places in Japan, using vegetables and fish from each region. Among them, "chilled soup" in Saitama has been eaten as a dipping sauce for udon noodles, which is unique to the "udon culture" in the area where wheat was widely cultivated as a back crop to rice cultivation. In the past, farmers who cultivated rice were very busy from rice planting to harvest, as manual labor was the basic method of farming. Cold soup, which was easy to make and nutritious during the busy farming season, was very useful. Surrounded on all sides by rivers and fertile land, Kawajima-Town has long been a thriving rice-growing community, and "chilled soup" was called "suittate" and was a staple food for farmers. The term "suttate" comes from the fact that the farmers used to grind vegetables and other ingredients with a mortar and eat them "suritate" (freshly grated). It is also called "chilled soup" or "tsuttate.

Chilled soup, made with freshly harvested vegetables and cold water, was a popular dish among farmers working in the hot summer sun. Seasoned with miso, which is rich in protein and provides salt, and adding summer vegetables such as cucumbers, shiso leaves, and myoga makes it a refreshing meal even on hot days when food is hard to come by.

Combine sesame and miso in a mortar and pestle, then add plenty of cool vegetables such as cucumber, shiso leaves, and myoga to bring them together. Finally, pour cold water and mix. In Kawajima Town's "suttate," vegetables are also grated together in a mortar and pestle. It is not only eaten with udon noodles, but also poured boldly over rice.

It is made as a summer dish not only by farmers but also by ordinary households. Restaurants in the prefecture use local ingredients and offer unique arrangements of noodles and dipping sauce. Kawabeh, the mascot character of Kawajima Town, holds a surikogi-stick for suritate and wears an outfit that resembles a bowl.