Nihon Chomiryo Tabi
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Gifu is made up of two areas with different characters, Hida and Mino. Hida in the north is deep in the mountains, and around Takayama and Okuhida a strongly aromatic sansho grows. Ground to a powder, it registers as aroma before heat.
Mino in the south has good water and became brewing country. Yaotsu makes vinegar and ponzu, and Kawabe makes hon-mirin (true mirin, a brewed sweet rice seasoning) by a heritage method using only rice and rice koji. Made without added sugars and given time to convert its own starch, this mirin has a history of being drunk straight as well as cooked with.
- Hida sansho is used for aroma rather than heat
- Mino's water supported the brewing of vinegar and mirin
Gifu has the water for brewing
Gifu's seasonings are marked by water and by builds that take time. Blessed by the Hida and Nagara river systems, brewed goods such as mirin, vinegar and miso remained in place across the prefecture.
Hon-mirin is the best known of them. Brewed from nothing but glutinous rice, rice koji and shochu, and aged long, it takes on an amber color and a sweetness with a thickness sugar cannot produce. It is a different product from the raw materials up compared with mirin-style seasoning (not brewed; contains added sugar and little or no alcohol). In the mountain districts, sansho is also cultivated, yielding a highly aromatic ground sansho.
Mirin aged three years
Hakusen Shuzo in Kawabe Town has made mirin and shochu since the late Edo period. Its brewery sits on the bank of the Hida River, and it brews mirin from koji made by hand. The glutinous rice comes from Hida, and the koji rice is a variety suited to this ground.
Hon-mirin rested three years differs greatly from ordinary mirin in both color and flavor. It is sweet enough to drink as it is, which hints at the history of mirin being drunk as a sweet liquor in the Edo period. Yaotsu Town has a vinegar brewery dating from the Meiji era that makes vinegar and ponzu.
Local dishes and their seasonings
- Hoba miso (朴葉味噌)
- A Hida dish in which miso and scallion are set on a dried magnolia leaf, then placed over heat and eaten as it grills. It puts the miso itself in the lead role, and the toasted aroma of the grilling miso is the point.
- Keichan (鶏ちゃん)
- A local dish of chicken marinated in a miso or shoyu-based sauce and grilled with cabbage. The sauce is mixed differently by household and shop, dividing into miso and shoyu camps.
Makers in Gifu
- Hakusen ShuzoFounded in the late Edo period
A brewery in Kawabe Town. Using hand-made koji and a heritage method, it makes hon-mirin aged three years. - Uchibori JozoFounded in 1876
A vinegar maker in Yaotsu Town. Working outward from vinegar, it makes seasonings such as ponzu. - Hida Sansho
Grows and processes sansho in Takayama and Okuhida. It produces a highly aromatic ground sansho.
Nearby prefectures
