All over the prefecture

Rice, hojicha (green tea)

Tea cultivation in Japan is said to have begun in the early 9th century when Kobo Daishi (Kukai) brought back tea seeds from Tang China and sowed them at Butsuryuji Temple in Uda City.
The "Omizutori" ceremony held at Todaiji Temple every March has a history of more than 1,200 years, and "gobo" and "gotcha" appear in the menu of the procession. Gecha" is rice boiled in hojicha and the liquid removed (like the origin of chahan), and "gobo" is tea porridge with a lot of liquid.

Tea porridge in Nara, known as "okai-san," is made by cooking cold rice in boiled hojicha (roasted green tea), and is characterized by its lightness. It is said that "mornings in Yamato start with tea porridge," so tea porridge is a typical daily meal in Nara.

Nowadays, few households cook "chagoo" every morning, but in Yamato, many households cook rice at night, and it is thought that "chagoo" spread widely among households in order to eat cold rice warmly. To make it more filling, various ingredients such as sweet potatoes, pumpkin, taro, chestnuts, and kakimochi were added to the porridge.

Some hotels in Nara Prefecture serve "tea porridge" as a breakfast menu. Some hotels in Nara Prefecture serve "chagrui" as a breakfast menu, and restaurants in Nara Prefecture also serve it.
In Yamazoe Village, the bamboo tea bags used for boiling tea leaves have been handed down from generation to generation.