# Gojiru ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Gojiru

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
All over the prefecture

## Main Ingredients Used
Soybeans, vegetables

## History, Origin, and Related Events
"Go-jiru" is a local dish loved throughout Saitama Prefecture, especially in areas where rice and field crops were cultivated. Especially in areas where rice cultivation was popular, soybeans, which grow well even in poor land, were often planted in rice paddies to make effective use of the land. Soybeans grown in rice paddies for private use are commonly known as "tanokuro-mame" (beans between rice paddies). In Saitama Prefecture, soybeans have long been cultivated as a crop rotation crop and as a substitute crop in rice paddies. Thus, soybeans have been a familiar food for people, and "Gojiru" has been an everyday food for the common people. It is characterized by its rich flavor and nutritional content of soybeans and seasonal vegetables. Miso is the most popular seasoning, but soy sauce and salt are also used. The amount of soybeans added and the degree of mashing vary from household to household.

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
In the autumn, when soybeans were harvested, households enjoyed making and eating Gojiru, a soup made of soybeans, as the weather turned chilly. As a source of protein, which tends to be in short supply during the winter, kurejiru was also useful as a nutritional food to relieve fatigue.

## How to Eat
Soak soybeans in water to reconstitute them, then grind them in a mortar until smooth. Boil taros, radishes, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, deep-fried tofu, and konnyaku in broth. Add soybeans to the simmering broth and when cooked, add green onions and season with miso to taste. Because people's diets were frugal in the past, the dish was often made with fried bean curd and one or two vegetables in addition to soybeans, and many people ate it over rice.

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
In addition to being made at home, it can also be enjoyed at school lunches and restaurants. Kawashima Town has developed "Kawashima Gojiru" made with more than 10 kinds of vegetables, including raw soybeans and taro bones, and offers it at restaurants in the town for the purpose of revitalizing the local community.

## Ingredients
- Soybeans: 80g
- Taro: 100g
- Daikon radish: 100g
- Carrot: 60g
- Green onion: 60g
- shiitake mushroom: 4 pieces
- konnyaku: 80g
- fried tofu: 1 sheet
- Miso paste: 2 to 3 tbsp.
- 7 spice red pepper: As much as desired

## Recipe
1. 1. Wash soybeans, soak in water, and grind smoothly in a mortar.
2. 2. Cut taro into round slices, or half-moon slices for thicker ones. Cut radish, carrot and deep-fried tofu into strips, leek into small cubes, and shiitake mushroom into thin strips.
3. 3. Cut konnyaku into strips and blanch.
4. 4. Make an appropriate amount of broth (not included in the quantity) in a pot and add taro, radish, carrot, deep-fried tofu, shiitake mushrooms, and konnyaku in this order and bring to a boil. When the broth comes to a boil, add the soybeans, and when cooked, add the green onions and miso paste and season to taste

## Provider Information
provider : Hometown Taste Traditions Saitama Hometown Traditions Cooking Collection

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