# Nishime ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Nishime

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
Throughout the entire prefecture

## Main Ingredients Used
Grilled tofu, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, kelp, wild vegetables, dried and sliced herring, etc.

## History, Origin, and Related Events
Nishime is a traditional dish prepared throughout the entire prefecture during weddings, funerals, New Year's, O-Bon (Festival of the Dead), and other gatherings. The main ingredients include tofu (grilled to prevent it from falling apart during cooking), carrots, konjac, butterbur, shiitake mushrooms, and wild vegetables such as Zenmai (Japanese royal fern) and bracken, often with dried and sliced herring added. Dried and sliced herring was a valuable protein source in inland areas during the Edo period, and was transported by Kitamaebune cargo ships.The ingredients used in Nishime vary from region to region. In the Ou and Kitakami mountain regions, preserved foods such as salted and dried wild vegetables, frozen radish, and frozen tofu (koya tofu) are commonly utilized. Zenmai, in particular, is considered the best of the wild vegetables and is traditionally on special occasions prepared in a dish called "Zenmai no ippon ni," in which it is cooked without being cut. In coastal areas, dried fish like rockfish, dark sleeper, fat greenling, conger eel, salmon, and others may also be included.

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
Nishime is also often prepared for gatherings such as important family events, New Year's, O-Bon, Boy's Day, etc. It is also often used as a potluck dish, packed in traditional Oju boxes. Nowadays, "Nishime" is also prepared in advance for events such as sports competitions.

## How to Eat
Ingredients such as grilled tofu, carrots, konjac, and wild vegetables are simmered in soy sauce and broth. The ingredients and cuts vary by region and household. In inland areas, dried and sliced herring, lotus root, maitake mushrooms, and salt-preserved hime take (a type of mushroom) picked in spring are sometimes added. In coastal areas, preserved dried fish such as rockfish, dark sleeper, fat greenling, conger eel, salmon, etc. are used as Nishime fish," and abalone, which cannot be shipped, is sometimes also included.

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
(An outline of the stories, about the preservation society, social media use, and modern ideas like commercialization etc.)Even today, it is made in every household for weddings, funerals, and New Year's gatherings. As a familiar home-cooked dish, it is also served in school lunches. In Iwate Prefecture, individuals and groups who pass on local cuisine are recognized as "Iwate Prefecture Food Craftsmen." Of course, there are also "Food Craftsmen" for "Nishime". In Nishiwaga, Nishime made with regional ingredients such as preserved wild vegetables (fern, udo, bracken), frozen radish, etc., is offered at shops run by "Iwate Prefecture Food Craftsmen."

## Ingredients
- Dried fern (or dried bracken): 30g
- Salt-preserved udo: 5-6 stems
- Frozen radish: 50-70g
- Frozen tofu (koya tofu): 5 pieces
- Carrot: 1
- Dried and sliced herring: 10
- Fresh shiitake mushrooms: 10
- Pre-boiled kelp: 20g
- Konjac: 1 piece
- Dashi kelp: 15g
- Bonito flakes: 10g
- Soy sauce: 150cc
- Mirin: 100cc
- Sake: 100cc
- Sugar: 25g
- salt: Suitable amount

## Recipe
1. 1. [Preparation of the dried fern] Put the harvested fern in boiling water, turn it over halfway and take it out when it boils again. Spread it on a bamboo sieve and dry it in the sun, turning it over several times. When it becomes brittle, massage it with your hands several times while drying it until it is completely dry.
2. 2. Soak it in lukewarm water for 15 minutes and massage it with your hands. Repeat this process three times, changing the water each time, and the fern will regain its plumpness.
3. 3. Put the fern into a pot and heat it. Once it comes to a boil, remove the pot from the heat and let it sit overnight.
4. 4. Tie the ferns together with the roots aligned and cut off 1cm from the root end.
5. 5. [Preparation of the salt-preserved udo] Remove the leaves from the freshly harvested udo, and pickle it in salt (30% of the weight of the udo). If you re-pickle it around the end of July, it can be preserved for a long period.
6. 6. Put water and the salt-preserved udo in a copper pot and heat it.
7. 7. Once it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
8. 8. Once the color of the udo gets vibrant, change the water and let it sit overnight.
9. 9. Change the water and once the salt is removed, cut into 5cm wide slices.
10. 10. [Preparation of the frozen radish] The radish that has been stored in the ground should be peeled during the cold season, cut in half lengthwise, hung from the eaves with a string, and exposed to the cold wind for more than a month. If you want to keep the radish for a long time, freeze it.
11. 11. Soak it in lukewarm water for 10 minutes, massage it with your hands to re-hydrate it, squeeze out the water and cut it vertically into 2 or 3 equal pieces of 5 cm length.
12. 12. [Preparation of the dried and sliced herring] Soak it for 30 minutes in water that has been used to wash rice.
13. 13. Cut off the head and cut it in half.
14. 14. [Recipe] Re-hydrate the koya tofu in lukewarm water and cut it in half. Cut the carrot into large chunks, and cut off the stem of the shiitake mushroom. Cut the konjac into 10 equal pieces, make a slit in the middle, and put it aside. Rinse 10 pieces of the pre-boiled kelp briefly, and when it becomes soft, put it aside.
15. 15. Make a broth with 1,000ccm of water, dashi kelp, and bonito flakes, and add all the seasonings except for the salt.
16. 16. Put in the dried and sliced herring and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes, then remove it once.
17. 17. Add the fern, udo, frozen radish, koya tofu, fresh shiitake mushrooms, and turn up the heat to maximum. When it comes to a boil, add the carrots and turn down the heat to medium.
18. 18. Simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes, and when the carrots become soft, adjust the taste with salt, return the dried and sliced herring to the pot, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
19. 19. Turn off the heat and let the flavors blend.

## Provider Information
provider : "Iwate Prefecture Food Artisan" (Miyoko Sasaki)

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