Kumamoto Prefecture
Dagojiru

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- Main lore areas
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All over Kumamoto Prefecture
- Main ingredients used
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wheat flour, taro, burdock root, carrot, radish, dried shiitake mushroom, soy sauce (miso)
- History/origin/related events
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Dako-jiru" is a soup made by kneading wheat flour (rice flour) with water, letting it sit for a while, then spreading it by hand and filling it with dumplings, and adding seasonal vegetables such as taro and burdock root, and eating it with miso or soy sauce. It is easy to make, nutritious, and filling, so it has long been eaten between farm chores. Dago" means "dango" in the Kumamoto dialect and is also called dango soup. It is eaten throughout Kyushu, but in Kumamoto, sweet potatoes are used for dango in many areas. There is "Ikinari Dago Jiru" (Kumamoto City), which contains dango wrapped with raw sweet potatoes, "Ohimesan Dango Jiru" (Kanomoto-Kikuchi area), which is sweetened by kneading sweet potatoes and has a smooth, soft texture, and "Anmochi Dago Jiru" (Koshi City), which contains sweet bean paste made from sweet potatoes and brown sugar mixed with sweet potatoes and wrapped in a dough filled with sweet potato ), and others. In some cases, instead of dumplings, the dough is stretched and cut into pieces like udon noodles. The variety of ingredients and methods of making dagojiru differ from region to region and from household to household, and the variety is part of its appeal.
Many restaurants also serve dagojiru, and the stretch of National Route 57 lined with restaurants offering dagojiru is known as "dagojiru highway.
- Opportunities and times of eating habits
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Dagojiru is served throughout the year, but especially in the fall and winter, when taro and burdock are harvested, it appears on restaurant menus as a seasonal dish. Many people recommend serving it with takana-meshi (rice cooked with takana cabbage).
- How to eat
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Dashi broth is made from dried shiitake mushrooms, dried sardines, etc., and prepared with barley miso, white miso, or soy sauce. Ingredients include taro, burdock root, carrots, Chinese cabbage, etc. In addition, chicken, shellfish, wild vegetables, etc. are used in some areas.
- Efforts for Preservation and Succession
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(Outline of the people who have passed it on, preservation groups, use of SNS, modern efforts such as commercialization, etc.)
In addition to being passed down within the family, it also appears in school lunches and on the menus of restaurants that emphasize regional characteristics.