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Nigomi ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

  • Saga Prefecture

    Nigomi

Nigomi

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Image Source : Imari City Council for the Advancement of Better Eating Habits

  • Main lore areas

    Saga prefecture, all regions

  • Main ingredients used

    Vegetables, chicken

  • History/origin/related events

    Kunchi is a festival found around the northern area of Kyūshū including Saga prefecture. All called Okunchi, this is an autumn festival wherein the first crop of the year is offered to the local deity and thanks is given to the gods in heaven and earth for the bumper crop of grains. In the former town of Imari in what is now Imari City, Kunchi is also observed every year in October, where mikoshi and danjiri shrines are brought together for a so-called fight festival. The spectacle, known as “Imari Ton-ten-ton” begins at the sounding of the drum, and chestnut rice and nigomi are crucial Kunchi cuisine for the event. Nigomi is a boiled dish made with either chicken or tofu; chestnuts; and root vegetables like lotus root, burdock root, or daikon radish; all simmered in seasonings like sugar or soy sauce. Also called “nijā,” the dish’s appeal is in the simple flavor of the vegetables and the well balanced nutrition it provides. It’s said that the dish was originally made as a way to not waste the leftover ingredients used in making a different boiled dish called nishimé, the leftover chestnuts and red beans used for chestnut rice, and the leftover water from boiling the red beans. Nigomi is made in bulk the evening before Kunchi, and is reheated and eaten bit by bit over the following 2~3 days.

  • Opportunities and times of eating habits

    As Kunchi is a festival, there is a custom of serving red bean rice, a celebratory dish, or amazake, along with the feast prepared for when relatives visit. For celebrations and festivals, it’s said that eye-pleasing, aesthetically arranged dishes are reserved for serving to invited guests, while less appealing leftovers or scraps are used for the host family to eat.

  • How to eat

    Chop chicken thigh meat into around 2cm cubes, and cut taro, carrots, burdock root, and lotus root into equal sized chunks. Parboil konjac jelly and hand-tear into pieces. Boil the red beans, discarding the water from the first boil, then adding more water and boiling again until soft. Add dashi stock to a pot, then add the cut vegetables, meat, konjac, peeled chestnuts, and continue to boil. Once fully heated throughout, add the red beans and red bean water, then add soy sauce or sake, and sugar to adjust the flavor. The chicken can be substituted with seafood, and dango can also be added.

  • Efforts for Preservation and Succession

    Besides being commonly made in households, nigomi can also be eaten at restaurants throughout Saga prefecture. It is often included in school lunch menus as well.

RECIPE

Ingredients (4 servings)

  • Chicken thigh 60g
  • Each taro and chestnuts (candied chestnuts can also be used) 120g
  • Red beans 60g
  • Carrots 50g
  • Each burdock root, lotus root, konjac jelly 40g
  • [Seasoning]soy sauce 4 tsp.
  • [Seasoning]sake 4 tsp.
  • [Seasoning]sugar 5 tsp.
  • Dashi stock 270cc
  • Water from boiled red beans 60cc

How to cook

  • 1. Chop chicken thigh meat into around 2cm cubes. Cut taro, carrots, burdock root, and lotus root into equal sized chunks as the chicken.

  • 2. Parboil the konjac jelly and hand-tear into pieces. Chop the chestnuts into halves.

  • 3. Boil the red beans once and discard the water. Add more water and boil again until soft. Set aside this water from the second boil and do not throw it away.

  • 4. Add dashi stock to a pot, adding in burdock root and lotus, and briefly boil. Next, add the carrots, konjac, chicken, and chestnuts, and continue to boil.

  • 5. Add the taro, then add the red beans, the boiled red bean water, and continue to boil until soft. Add in the seasoning, and serve in a bowl.

provider : "Sga no Chojyu menu(Saga's Longevity Menu)"

Recipes vary depending on the region and home.

Contact

Food Cultures Office, Overseas Market Development and Food Cultures Division, Food Industry Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Tel:+81-3-3502-5516

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