Miyagi Prefecture
Sendai zoni

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- Main lore areas
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Sendai area and other areas in the prefecture
- Main ingredients used
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grilled goby, daikon radish, carrots, harako (harako is a type of fish), Japanese parsnip, gobo (burdock root), zuki (dried taro's stem), frozen tofu, and rice cakes
- History/origin/related events
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Sendai Zoni has been eaten since the end of the Edo period. It is a beautifully colored meal for a special occasion with grilled hake so large that it protrudes from the bowl, harako (salmon roe), Sendai celeri, and omorina.
Daikon, carrots, and burdocks are cut into small pieces and quickly blanched in hot water, and the "o-hinna" is divided into servings and frozen in the open air. This way, the flavor sinks in more easily (in recent years, with global warming, freezing in the freezer is the norm).
The broth is made from grilled and dried goby, which were once caught in large numbers in Matsushima Bay. These grilled gobies are sold in rows of several fish tied together with straw. In the past, there used to be a number of yaki-haze huts, but due to poor catches in recent years, the number of huts has drastically decreased. As a result, the price of grilled goby has become more expensive every year.
Harako, which is made from salmon that have come up the Abukuma River, is also a highlight, but its price has also risen in recent years, and overall, Sendai zoni is becoming more and more expensive.
Incidentally, it is recorded that Lord Date Masamune did not eat Sendai zoni, but rather a zoni of dried abalone, dried sea cucumbers, and herring stock.
- Opportunities and times of eating habits
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O-hikina" is made from daikon (Japanese radish), carrots, and burdocks and frozen from the 28th to the 30th of the year. Some households soak yaki-haze in water to make broth, while others boil it on New Year's Day. After the broth is made, take out the grilled goby, add zuiki and omikina, and season with soy sauce or other seasonings according to the seasoning of each household. The dish is then garnished with grilled goby, halako (fish roe), and Sendai seri.
In the area around downtown Sendai, it is common to eat this zoni on the third day of the New Year.
- How to eat
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Each portion is served in a bowl and eaten one at a time. The rice cake is usually covered with enough ingredients to make it invisible. The backbone of the goby is removed and eaten.
- Efforts for Preservation and Succession
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(Outline of those who have passed down the tradition, preservation groups, use of SNS, modern efforts such as commercialization, etc.)
The "Miyagi Food Communicators' Association" holds various events to teach people how to make Sendai Zoni.