Gunma Prefecture
Okirikomi/Okkirikomi

Please refer to “Links and Copyrights” for information on secondary use of images.(Term of use)
-
Image Source: Connect Hearts Maebashi Taste, Created by Maebashi City Health Promotion Division, Health Department, Maebashi City Council of Dietary Promoters
-
Image Source: Connect Hearts Maebashi Taste, Created by Maebashi City Health Promotion Division, Health Department, Maebashi City Council of Dietary Promoters
-
Image Source: Textbook on the Inheritance of Culture of Food from Gunma
-
- Main lore areas
-
All over the prefecture
- Main ingredients used
-
Flour, vegetables such as carrots, leeks, and shiitake mushrooms
- History/origin/related events
-
Gunma is famous for its flour. It grows vigorously in well-drained rice paddies and under the influence of the dry cold winds and gales that blow in winter, and its production is among the highest in Japan. The Agricultural Technology Center of Gunma Prefecture has improved the Kinu no Hami and Saton no Sora varieties, which are now widely produced throughout the country. Many local dishes make use of wheat flour, and okirikomi is a typical example. It is a noodle dish in which wide noodles made of wheat are stewed with vegetables and mushrooms that are available in each household. In 2014, the dish was adopted as "Gunma's Flour Food Culture - Okirikomi," an intangible folk cultural asset that should be documented and documented by Gunma Prefecture. It was adopted.
- Opportunities and times of eating habits
-
It is believed to have become popular as a daily staple food around the middle of the Edo period, when the stone mortar spread to the general population. Although the use of wide noodles and vegetables is a given, there are no detailed rules regarding the specific thickness of the noodles, types of vegetables, or seasoning, which varies from household to household. It is rare to find a region where unsalted and unboiled noodles like okirikomi are eaten on a daily basis, and in addition to Gunma, it is limited to Saitama, Yamanashi, Nagano, and other regions.
- How to eat
-
Wide, unsalted noodles made of wheat flour are placed in a large pot with vegetables available in each household and cooked without boiling. Vegetables vary from household to household, but most often carrots, leeks, daikon radish, shiitake mushrooms, potatoes, and taro are used. In addition, seasonal ingredients are also used to enjoy seasonal flavors.
- Efforts for Preservation and Succession
-
In the "Genki Prefecture Gunma 21 Cooking Seminar" held to introduce children and young people to local cuisine, a seminar on making okirikomi is held. In addition, a "Gunma Okirikomi Stamp Rally" is held to visit stores that serve Okirikomi, and information is disseminated on the "Gunma Okirikomi Facebook" page, among other efforts to raise awareness and pass on the dish.