is a type of
taro
Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Afri ...
and
meat
Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
soup eaten traditionally in the autumn in the
Tōhoku region
The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata.
Tōhoku reta ...
of Japan.
Yamagata Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Yamagata Prefecture has a population of 1,079,950 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 9,325 km² (3,600 sq mi). Yamagata Prefecture borders Akita Prefecture to the nor ...
in particular is famous for its imoni, but other prefectures in the region also have their own different varieties.
Imoni is eaten like any soup, primarily during the late summer and early autumn, but is most famous as an outdoor food. In the autumn, groups of people preparing imoni around a fire near a river is considered a sign of the season, and
convenience store
A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ti ...
s maintain a stock of firewood and other supplies just for the occasion.
Ingredients
The different recipes for imoni vary from prefecture to prefecture: for example, inland Yamagata imoni contains beef,
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...
, and
soy sauce
Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or '' As ...
and is sweet, while the imoni prepared in the neighbouring prefecture of
Miyagi does not, but includes
miso
is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and ''kōji'' (the fungus '' Aspergillus oryzae'') and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and ...
paste to flavour the soup. Similarly, even the
Shōnai region of Yamagata features a pork and miso base rather than the beef and soy sauce base of inland areas of the same prefecture. However, several ingredients are considered standard parts of the recipe:
*
Taro
Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Afri ...
root (satoimo, Japanese: サトイモ/さといも,
Kanji
are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...
: 里芋)
* Thinly sliced meat, typically beef or pork
*
konnyaku, dense jelly made from the konjac plant
*
soy sauce
Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or '' As ...
Other ingredients may include
Chinese cabbage
Chinese cabbage (''Brassica rapa'', subspecies ''pekinensis'' and ''chinensis'') can refer to two cultivar groups of leaf vegetables often used in Chinese cuisine: the Pekinensis Group (napa cabbage) and the Chinensis Group (bok choy).
These ...
(''hakusai''),
burdock
''Arctium'' is a genus of biennial plants commonly known as burdock, family Asteraceae. Native to Europe and Asia, several species have been widely introduced worldwide. Burdock's clinging properties, in addition to providing an excellent mech ...
root (''gobō''),
daikon
Daikon or mooli, ''Raphanus sativus'' var. ''longipinnatus,'' is a mild-flavored winter radish usually characterized by fast-growing leaves and a long, white, root. Originally native to continental East Asia, daikon is harvested and consume ...
,
carrot
The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', na ...
,
negi (Japanese green onion),
mirin
is a type of rice wine and a common ingredient in Japanese cooking. It is similar to sake but with a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content. The sugar content is a complex carbohydrate that forms naturally during the fermentation pro ...
sake,
tofu
Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super f ...
,
mushrooms
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans.
The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
- in particular
shimeji
''Shimeji'' ( Japanese: , or ) is a group of edible mushrooms native to East Asia, but also found in northern Europe. ''Hon-shimeji ( Lyophyllum shimeji'') is a mycorrhizal fungus and difficult to cultivate. Other species are saprotrophs, an ...
,
hiratake,
shiitake
The shiitake (alternate form shitake) (; ''Lentinula edodes'') is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a Medicinal fungi, medicinal mushroom in some forms of tradition ...
,
maitake - and region-specific modifications.
Culture
In Yamagata Prefecture in particular, and its neighbours in general, ''imonikai'' (芋煮会 "imoni parties") are an important autumn tradition. Tourists flock to Yamagata for the Autumn Imoni Festival (Akino Imonikai) where they join local residents on the banks of the Mamigasaki River on the first Sunday in September, to eat imoni from a gigantic iron kettle, which uses a building crane to add ingredients and stir the pot. In 2009 the festival served imoni to 30,000 guests before the pot was empty.
JNTO Website , Find a Location , Yamagata , Yamagata City and its surroundings
/ref>
Many schools and work organisations in Northern Japan arrange imonikai for their students or employees. Through September and October it is common to see groups of imonikai revellers on the banks of rivers, even near major highways.
See also
* List of Japanese soups and stews
This is a list of Japanese soups and stews. Japanese cuisine is the food—ingredients, preparation and way of eating—of Japan. The phrase refers to the makeup of a typical meal served, but has roots in classic '' kaiseki'', '' honzen'', and ' ...
*Nabemono
''Nabemono'' (鍋物, なべ物, ''nabe'' "cooking pot" + ''mono'' "thing"), or simply ''nabe'', is a variety of Japanese hot pot dishes, also known as one pot dishes and "things in a pot".
Description
Nabemono are stews and soups containin ...
*Japanese regional cuisine
Japanese cuisine has a vast array of regional specialities known as ''kyōdo ryōri'' (郷土料理) in Japanese, many of them originating from dishes prepared using local ingredients and traditional recipes.List of Japanese dishes
Below is a list of dishes found in Japanese cuisine. Apart from rice, staples in Japanese cuisine include noodles, such as soba and udon. Japan has many simmered dishes such as fish products in broth called oden, or beef in sukiyaki and nikujag ...
References
{{reflist
Japanese soups and stews
Culture in Yamagata Prefecture
Autumn festivals
Taro dishes