# Jojokiri ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Jojokiri

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
Higashi Mikawa Area, centered on Atsumi Peninsula

## Main Ingredients Used
Flour, azuki beans, sugar

## History, Origin, and Related Events
The Atsumi Peninsula is a peninsula situated on the eastern side of Aichi Prefecture; it is an area blessed with the natural wonders of the sea and mountains, with the Mikawa Bay in the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The Atsumi Peninsula is affected by the Kuroshio Current off the coast in its temperate climate, length of daylight hours, and numerous days with good weather; it is an environment extremely suited to agriculture. However, it lacked large rivers in the past; there was consistent drought damage, and the poor soil quality could have hardly been called fertile. From the Showa Period on, once the Toyogawa Canal was developed, agriculture developed rapidly, and it became one of the leading agricultural areas in Japan for vegetables and flowers.Jojokiri is a dish passed down from the Meiji Period to farmers in the Atsumi Peninsula with its flourishing agriculture. It is also called "Irago shiruko." Udon noodles are boiled in a broth sweetened with sugar and eaten. It is said that the dish came to be called "jojokiri" from the shape of the thin udon noodles kneaded from flour, which resembles loaches ("dojo" or "jojo").Because it was eaten in place of a snack during breaks in farm work, it is unique in its sweet finish, since sugar helps relieve tiredness.

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
In the past, it was eaten as a snack during breaks in farm work. It was also eaten during finishing points in critical farm work (such as rice-planting and rice-harvesting).

## How to Eat
Add water to flour and knead; you want the texture to be somewhat on the firm side. Spread thinly with a rolling pin, and cut into pieces that are about 1cm thick. Place into boiling water and let boil; lastly, add azuki beans, a generous amount of sugar, and salt. Once the taste is adjusted to your liking, it is ready to eat. The springy texture of the noodles and the sweetness of the sugar and azuki beans will take over your mouth.It is typically eaten sweetened, like oshiruko, but it is also eaten in a savory variation with taro, carrots and soy sauce as the ingredients. The savory variation is eaten as a meal.

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
(Outline of the traditions, the preservation society, social media use, modern approaches at commercialization)Besides being introduced as an item on cafe menus, it can also be eaten as part of school lunches. Also, the Irago Residents' Association has recreated a certain "jojokiri" that only some elders knew about, after asking them for the recipe. They are devoted to passing down this dish, and even now give it out at local festivals, etc.

## Ingredients
- Flour: 100g
- Azuki beans: 60g
- Water: 400ml
- Sugar: 4 heaped Tbsp
- Salt: A pinch

## Recipe
1. 1. Wash the azuki beans and place into pot. Add three times the amount of azuki beans in water, and turn on the heat. Once boiled, strain and discard the water and scum. Add three times the amount of azuki beans in water once again, turn on the heat, and boil for about 30min until softened. Mash until it begins to form a paste.
2. 2. Knead flour and water into a dough with a slightly firm consistency. Make into balls, flatten with a rolling pin into discs about 3mm thick. Cut into strips about 4cm wide and 1cm thick.
3. 3. Add 2 to boiling water, wait until they float to the surface.
4. 4. Once they float to the surface, add the azuki beans from 1, and adjust the taste with sugar and salt.

## Provider Information
provider : Recipe Source: "Selection of 50 Recipes of Aichi's Local Cuisine"

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