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Gunma Prefecture

Okirikomi/Okkirikomi

Okirikomi/Okkirikomi
Related images

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  • 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

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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.

RECIPE

Ingredients (For 4 persons)

  • [Noodles] All Purpose Four 300g
  • [Noodles] Water Approx. 150ml
  • [Noodles] Flour Approx. 30g
  • burdock root 60g
  • [Soup] Carrot 60g
  • [Soup] Daikon radish 100g
  • [Soup] Taro 150g
  • [Soup] shiitake mushroom 4 pieces
  • [Soup] fried tofu 1 piece
  • [Soup] green onion 40g
  • [A] water 2L
  • [A] dried sardines 40g
  • [A] Kelp (10cm square) 1 slice
  • [A] dried bonito flakes 10g
  • [B] Soy sauce 2 tbsp.
  • [B] Miso paste 40g

How to cook

  • 1. [Making noodles] Put medium-strength flour in a bowl, hollow out the center, and add water a little at a time. Knead thoroughly by hand until flouriness is gone.

  • 2. Roll 1 into a ball, place in a large plastic bag, and step on it with your heel. Fold the dough and press down further. Repeat several times until the dough is slightly firmer than an earlobe. Then, leave the bag to rise at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.

  • 3. Place the dough from step 2 on a floured board and roll out with a rolling pin (3mm to 5mm thick).

  • 4. Dust the dough of 3 with flour as needed and roll it around the rolling pin. Cut the dough into pieces about 1 cm thicker than udon noodles.

  • 5. [Take dashi] In a pot, add water, kombu (kelp), niboshi (dried sardines) and bonito flakes with the heads and guts removed, soak for 5 minutes, and then bring to a low boil.

  • 6. When it comes to a boil, pull out the kombu and leave the others simmering over low heat for about 5 minutes, then strain through a colander.

  • 7. [How to cut ingredients] Cut carrots and daikon radish into chunks, taro into bite-sized pieces, shiitake mushrooms into slices, and leeks into round slices. Cut gobo (burdock root) into round slices or diagonal slices depending on its thickness. Cut fried tofu into 7mm strips. Cut them into strips as large as possible.

  • 8. Pour broth into a pot, add vegetables except noodles and leeks, starting with those that are hard to cook, and cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Add the noodles and cook further, then add the green onions and season with [B] soy sauce or miso.

Recipe Arrangements

provider : Connect Hearts Maebashi Taste, Created by Maebashi City Health Promotion Division, Health Department, Maebashi City Council of Dietary Promoters

* Recipes vary depending on the region and home.

* This recipe video has been partially arranged to make it easier to cook at home.