Iki City

Chicken thigh meat, ishu tofu, somen noodles, Chinese cabbage, gobo (burdock root), konnyaku (konnyaku), and green onion

This is a typical local dish of Iki, a remote island in Nagasaki Prefecture.
In the past, when Iki farmers had guests over for the Bon Festival, New Year's Day, and festivals, they would cook a nabe dish from the tasty chickens they kept at home, and entertain them by pulling them through to a tatami room in the back of the house. This is said to be the origin of the current nabe dish "hikitoshi," and the name is said to have come from the "hikimichi" of those days.
In the Iki dialect, "huremae" means "to serve," so hittoshi is sometimes called "huremae ryori" (horemae cuisine).

Today, in addition to being eaten at home on the Bon Festival, New Year's Day, and festive occasions, it is often served at gatherings. The dish is also often served at gatherings, and is called "hikitoshi yotsuai," which means a gathering of people to talk over the dish. Because it is a local specialty, local restaurants serve this dish regardless of the time of year.

Ingredients for nabe vary from household to household, but in addition to chicken thighs (or tsumire) and vegetables, Iki's specialty Iki-dofu, which has a strong, sweet flavor, and somen noodles boiled to a firm consistency are also standard. To give the pot a rich flavor, Iki shochu, a specialty of Iki, is sometimes poured into the water used to fill the pot.

Because it is not only delicious and nutritious, but also has the significance of passing on the local flavor to future generations of children, it is served as a school lunch menu item at schools throughout Nagasaki Prefecture.