Hyogo Prefecture
Chobo jiru

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- Main lore areas
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Awaji Island
- Main ingredients used
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Sasage beans, zuki beans, glutinous rice flour
- History/origin/related events
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Chobo-jiru is a traditional local dish of Awaji Island that has been served since the Edo period (1603-1868). It consists of dumplings, common beans, and zuki beans in a thick broth. It looks similar to oshiruko (sweet bean soup), but it is not sweet. The dumplings made of sugar beans and glutinous rice flour are highly nutritious, and the zuiki is said to purge old blood and cleanse the blood. It was customary for mothers to make this dish for their daughters to restore their strength after childbirth, saying, "I feed it to my wife to improve her milk supply after childbirth. They would make a lot of it in a pot and serve it to relatives and neighbors who gathered to celebrate the birth. It is also customary to make chobojiru at the time of a child's shrine visit and distribute it to relatives and acquaintances.
The name "chobo soup" comes from the wish that the child will have a cute chobo mouth. The dumplings in the soup are either hollowed out in the middle or rounded if the baby is a girl, or pointed if the baby is a boy. If it is a boy, the dumplings should be pointed. This is to wish for the healthy growth of the child.
- Opportunities and times of eating habits
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The mothers make dumplings for women who have just given birth, and serve them to relatives and neighbors. It is also made at the time of the child's shrine visit and distributed to relatives and acquaintances.
- How to eat
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Dumplings made from glutinous rice flour, white beans, and taro stems called "zuiki" are added to dashi broth, simmered, and miso is added.
- Efforts for Preservation and Succession
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At the Awaji Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Festival held every year on January 15, handmade chobo soup is served by the JA Women's Association and women of the Lifestyle Research Group (in 2020, chobo soup sets will be distributed).
Some restaurants in the city also serve it. Chobo soup also appears once a year on the school lunch menu.