You know that one of the most popular foods in the world is noodles. In the West, there are different kinds of long pasta originating in Italy and in Asia; a variety of noodles from China are consumed. The Japanese are world-class noodle eaters. They like both Italian pasta and Chinese noodles – spaghetti and ramen dishes have been very popular in recent years – and they have loved traditional Japanese noodles like soba (buckwheat noodles) and udon (wheat-flour noodles) since the Edo period. Restaurants do cook and serve fresh soba and udon noodles but most people cook dried noodles at home.
The original forms of soba and udon have existed since the Nara period, but lay people started eating them as noodles after the Edo period. In the city of Edo, soba and udon were available at street stands like today’s fast food. At the street stands, they served boiled noodles with “mentsuyu” consisting of “dashi soup” from katsuobushi and kombu, and “kaeshi” made from soy source, mirin (a kind of rice wine) and sugar.
Now soba and udon are found all over Japan but generally, people in the eastern part of Japan tend to love soba, while those in the western part love udon. Soba is a specialty product of several prefectures including Nagano (Shinshu soba), Iwate (wanko soba), and Niigata (hegi soba) while udon is a specialty of such prefectures as Kagawa (Sanuki udon), Akita (Inaniwa udon), and Aichi (kishimen). The soba and udon in these highly regarded areas are extraordinary good and these specialty noodles are a major attraction for tourism.
Like soba and udon, fu is also a dried grain product. Fu is made from wheat gluten, flour, and baking power by baking or frying. There is a wide variety of fu from tiny and pretty temari fu, which is often used as garnish for traditional soup, to kuruma fu, which is shaped like wheels, and age fu that looks like fried buns. Fu was introduced from China around the 14th century. Since the product contains lots of gluten, it was adopted for shojin ryori at temples as a source of protein for monks who were prohibited from having meat or fish with meals.
Fu is a specialty product of the following prefectures: Yamagata (ita fu), Niigata (kuruma fu), Miyagi (abura fu), etc., and is used for cooked, fried and soupy dishes. The product itself has no taste but when cooked it tastes good since it absorbs the juices and seasonings of other ingredients; in addition, it is a healthy product high in protein.
The products in the photos above are both dried vegetables. Shown at left are kanpyo, dried shavings of gourd. Kanpyo is high in dietary fiber and minerals but is low in calories. It used to be a major ingredient of sushi; when you asked for “nori maki” at sushi restaurants it meant you ordered the sushi roll with kanpyo. Now the roll is called “kanpyo maki.” The sweet and crunchy texture of cooked kanpyo goes well with sushi rice and is an essential ingredient in chirashizushi. In the Edo period, a feudal lord who moved from Osaka to Tochigi promoted the cultivation of gourd. Since then, kanpyo has been a specialty of the Tochigi prefecture, which provides 80% of total production in Japan.
The product in the above right picture is kiriboshi daikon. It is made by shredding then sun-drying daikon radishes. After softening the daikon by soaking it in water, it is usually cooked with vegetables and aburaage and served. Kiriboshi daikon is a specialty product of the Miyazaki prefecture, which produces 90% of national production since Miyazaki is a major daikon-producing region and in winter, the cold winds blow from the mountains and effectively dry the shredded daikon.
Through these means, these dried foods contain a lot of sun light, and nutrients concentrated by drying which are, so to speak, natural supplements. Beyond those mentioned in our blogs, Japan has many other dried foods. They are traditional foods processed by methods adhering to ancient wisdom. Although they appear unassuming, they contain lots of umami, dietary fiber, and minerals, yet not many calories. Therefore, if you are concerned about stress, weight gain, or adult diseases we recommend you use these dried products for your diet.
Reported by Yukari Aoike, Sugahara Institute