Nihon Chomiryo Tabi
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Utsunomiya is known as a gyoza town. Because the filling and the wrapper differ from shop to shop, the mix of the dipping sauce differs from household to household, and the ratio of vinegar to shoyu (soy sauce) to chili oil is a live topic here. The habit of blending your own seasoning is alive.
In farming, this is also a producing area for kanpyo. Made by peeling bottle gourd into thin strips and drying them, it has been used in rolled sushi and simmered dishes. The idea of drying something to store up its savory depth runs continuous with the thinking behind dashi.
- A gyoza dipping sauce whose ratio differs by household
- Kanpyo, a preserved food that stores savory depth by drying
Why Tochigi miso is rested for so long
Aogen Miso in Utsunomiya is a brewery running since 1625, and their top-grade tennen jozo (naturally brewed, no temperature control) miso is said to turn amber through long aging. It is made with nothing but rice and soybeans from Tochigi and domestic salt, with no alcohol added and no heating, so the koji mold and yeast arrive alive and aging continues while it sits in your kitchen. The same miso tastes different on the day you buy it and six months later. The sweetness and body that let you enjoy that remain a tendency of miso in this area.
The ratio of vinegar to shoyu to chili oil in an Utsunomiya gyoza dipping sauce is said to differ by household, and Aogen is also credited with spreading the miso version of that sauce. A sweetness that can carry flour-based and grilled foods runs continuous with the eating habits of the town.
The miso of Utsunomiya and the chili peppers of Ohtawara
The history of Tochigi's seasonings is told through two currents: the miso of Utsunomiya and the chili peppers of Ohtawara. In Utsunomiya, Aogen Miso is said to have been founded in 1625, in the time of Tokugawa Iemitsu. It has gone on brewing miso in this city ever since, and behind the gyoza culture it also became a source for the miso sauce.
The other current is the chili peppers of Ohtawara. In the early Showa era, Genshiro Yoshioka took up large-scale chili cultivation on the open land of the Nasunogahara plain, and the variety selected from the yatsubusa line in 1955 is said to be Tochigi Santaka. Around 1963, annual production is said to have reached roughly 7,000 tons, with some going for export. Production later fell off, but a harvest of 4 tons in 2014 recovered to 26 tons by 2019, and the city of Ohtawara claims the top chili pepper output in Japan.
Local dishes and their seasonings
- Shimotsukare (しもつかれ)
- A dish found throughout the prefecture in which daikon and carrot are grated on a coarse oni-oroshi, then simmered with roasted soybeans, salmon heads and fried tofu in sake lees and dashi. A custom of placing it in a straw wrapper as an offering at Inari shrines on the day of Hatsu-uma is handed down, and the dish is recorded in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' Uchi no Kyodo Ryori collection. Its distinctive flavor divides opinion sharply.
- Utsunomiya Gyoza and its dipping sauce (宇都宮餃子とつけだれ)
- Because the wrapper and the filling differ from shop to shop, blending your own ratio of vinegar, shoyu and chili oil at home is said to be the Utsunomiya custom. Some people serve it with the miso sauce that Aogen Miso is credited with spreading, and a culture of mixing your own seasoning has taken root.
- Chitake Soba (ちたけそば)
- A dish of the southern part of the prefecture in which chichitake mushrooms gathered in summer are stir-fried with eggplant and used as a dipping broth for soba. Shoyu and dashi catch the savory flavor that seeps out of the mushrooms. In Tochigi, these mushrooms are said to be treated as being in a class of their own.
Makers in Tochigi
- Aogen MisoFounded in 1625
A miso brewery in Utsunomiya. Their top-grade tennen jozo miso, made with nothing but rice and soybeans from Tochigi and domestic salt, has no alcohol added and is not heated, so the koji mold and yeast are said to arrive alive. They are also known as the brewery credited with spreading the miso sauce served with Utsunomiya gyoza. - Yoshioka Shokuhin KogyoOhtawara, chili pepper specialist
A company in Ohtawara dealing exclusively in chili peppers. In the early Showa era, Genshiro Yoshioka took up large-scale chili cultivation on the Nasunogahara plain, and they use Tochigi Santaka, the variety selected from the yatsubusa line in 1955. Their shichimi, roasted in iron cauldrons, is said to be blended from domestic ingredients only.
Nearby prefectures
