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Okuzukake is a beloved conventional dish from Japan’s Tohoku area, identified for its comforting flavors and cultural significance. That includes seasonal greens, tofu, and noodles simmered in a wealthy, thickened broth, it’s a heartwarming meal usually loved throughout particular events and festivals. This easy but flavorful dish captures the essence of native substances and culinary traditions, providing a style of Japan’s deep-rooted meals tradition. Curious to be taught extra about this distinctive dish? Hold studying to find its historical past, preparation, and the secrets and techniques behind its enduring attraction!
What’s Okuzukake?

Okuzukake (おくずかけ) is a conventional Japanese dish originating from the Tohoku area, notably Miyagi Prefecture. It’s a hearty and comforting soup made with quite a lot of seasonal greens, tofu, and konnyaku (a jelly-like meals made out of konjac yam) simmered in a dashi-based broth thickened with starch. The starch, sometimes derived from potato starch or kuzu (arrowroot), offers the dish its signature silky and viscous texture, which is mirrored within the identify “okuzukake” (actually that means “poured or thickened with kuzu”).
Okuzukake Historical past

Okuzukake is a conventional vegetarian dish from Miyagi Prefecture, particularly the southern area, loved in the course of the spring and autumn equinoxes, Obon, and memorial gatherings. It options seasonal greens, tofu, fried tofu, and soybean gluten stewed in a shiitake mushroom broth. With Shiroishi Onmen noodles added and thickened with starch. All ages love this dish for its light taste and easy-to-digest noodles. Comparable dishes like “suppoko” and “noppei soup” seem within the northern areas, with the primary distinction being whether or not folks eat them as every day meals or for particular events.
FAQ
- What are the primary substances of okuzukake?
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Okuzukake sometimes makes use of heat noodles, varied greens (corresponding to burdock, carrots, eggplant, and inexperienced beans), deep-fried tofu, tofu, and dried shiitake mushrooms. The substances could differ by area and family, however these are the fundamental substances used.
- What’s the origin of okuzukake?
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The identify okuzukake comes from the truth that it was as soon as thickened with kudzu starch. It’s also usually eaten as a vegetarian dish throughout Obon and Higan, and is claimed to be a dish consumed by ascetic monks.
Okuzukake Recipe
Substances for 1 particular person | Measurements |
---|---|
Burdock (shredded) | 12g |
Carrots (minimize into chrysanthemum shapes) | 12g |
Taro (chopped) | 50g |
Dried shiitake mushrooms (sliced into skinny strips) | 1g |
Shirataki (minimize into 3cm items) | 50g |
Deep-fried tofu (sliced into strips) | 5g |
Salt | 0.4g |
Darkish soy sauce | 7g |
Starch | 2g |
Hon Mirin | 2.5g |
Bean Gurd | 1g |
Inexperienced beans (sliced diagonally) | 5g |
Umen | 12g |
Dried bonito | 4g |
Water | 150g |
Find out how to make?
STEP
Preparation
Start by making a flavorful inventory utilizing bonito flakes and the water used to rehydrate dried shiitake mushrooms. Completely wash the shiitake mushrooms earlier than rehydrating them, and put aside the rehydrating water for later. Drain extra oil from fried tofu, boil udon noodles till agency, and rinse the beans. Lastly, boil the shirataki noodles to arrange all of the substances.
STEP
Cooking
Mix the shiitake mushroom-soaked water with the soup inventory in a pot. Add burdock and carrots, then simmer till the greens start to melt. Subsequent, embrace taro and the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, permitting the flavors to meld as they prepare dinner.
STEP
Ending Touches
Add the ready shirataki noodles and fried tofu to the pot and proceed simmering. Season the soup with the suitable condiments, then thicken it by stirring in starch dissolved in water. Lastly, combine in lentils, inexperienced beans, and udon noodles, making certain all substances are properly included earlier than serving.
Really useful Eating places
Miyagino Native Delicacies – Espar Retailer ( 郷土料理 みやぎ乃 エスパル店 )
“Miyagino Native Delicacies – Espar Retailer” provides the native delicacies of Miyagi Prefecture in an simply accessible location. You’ll discover it at basement stage 1 of Espar Sendai, which connects on to Sendai Station. The quiet inside ambiance welcomes each solo diners and teams. Cooks put together dishes utilizing Miyagi’s wealthy substances, together with Sendai’s well-known beef tongue, Harako rice, and Seri sizzling pot. At lunch, guests can select from varied menu choices to pattern native flavors. The restaurant additionally shares a big selection of native sake, making it an excellent spot to chill out within the night whereas having fun with Miyagi’s flavors. Whether or not you go to Sendai for enterprise or pleasure, make certain to cease by to expertise Miyagi’s native delicacies.
Gotsu-san Delicatessen ( 惣菜店 ごっつぉうさん )
“Gotsu-san,” a well-liked delicatessen with a number of places in Sendai Metropolis, delights locals with its selfmade, heat, and homely flavors. The store provides ample bento and aspect dishes, assembly varied wants from on a regular basis meals to particular objects for entertaining company. The deli actively makes use of substances from Miyagi Prefecture, emphasizing native flavors as one in every of its fundamental points of interest. The colourful and well-balanced bento makes an ideal selection for lunch or dinner. Prospects can purchase aspect dishes by weight, selecting precisely how a lot they need. The deli serves as an excellent choice for busy people, these dwelling alone, or anybody desirous to take pleasure in scrumptious bento and aspect dishes simply. (We advocate making a reservation for okuzukake forward of time.)
Deal with: 〒980-0804 2-3-17 Omachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai Metropolis, Miyagi Prefecture
Telephone quantity: 022-227-2534 Hours open: 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM Closed: Sundays and holidays
Web site: https://www.gottsuousan.com/index.html
Abstract

Whether or not you’re savoring its light flavors throughout a competition or discovering it in a neighborhood eatery, Okuzukake provides a real style of Tohoku’s tradition. In case you have the prospect to go to Japan, don’t miss the chance to do that heartwarming dish for your self. Search it out, bask in its distinctive flavors, and expertise a bowl of custom that has been cherished for generations.
For extra heartwarming Japanese dishes like Okuzukake, discover different conventional favorites from the Miyagi prefecture and past—you would possibly simply uncover your subsequent culinary delight!
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