Torimeshi rice balls from Oita · Photo: Nissy-KITAQ / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
JapanYufuinTorimeshi of Oita, Home of Yufuin: Chicken-and-Burdock Rice From Japan's Chicken-Loving Prefecture
Oita, a prefecture that eats a remarkable amount of chicken, has torimeshi, a must at every celebration: chicken and burdock simmered sweet and savoury and mixed into rice. Here is where it comes from, the two ways to make it and how to pick some up on your travels.
Oita, a Prefecture of Chicken Lovers
Oita is one of Japan's top prefectures for chicken bought per household each year, a place that truly loves chicken. Beppu's tori-ten and Nakatsu's karaage are famous, and among the many chicken dishes the rice dish handed down in every home is torimeshi. It is listed as an Oita dish in the Ministry of Agriculture's 'Our Local Cuisines'. Torimeshi is finely chopped chicken and burdock root simmered sweet and savoury in soy sauce and sugar, then mixed into rice. The ingredients are simple, but the chicken fat and the earthy scent of burdock soak into every grain, giving a rich, nutty flavour. It is tasty even cold, so it is often made into rice balls.
A Dish for Guests That Began With Pheasant and Pigeon
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, torimeshi began as a dish hunters made with pheasant or pigeon to entertain guests. In times when food was scarce, chickens were a valuable source of protein that every household kept, and as home-raised chicken replaced wild birds the dish became the torimeshi of today. People who want the old-fashioned taste use meat from older hens that have stopped laying. A long-raised bird is tough, but the more you chew the more flavour comes out. Some cooks mix young chicken and older hen for contrast in texture and taste. The innards, bones and scraps left over went into a soup called torijiru, so nothing was wasted.
Two Ways to Make It
There are two main ways to make torimeshi. One is to simmer the chicken and burdock separately in soy sauce, sugar and sake and then mix them into cooked rice; the other is to cook the ingredients and rice together from the start. The simplest version uses only chicken and burdock. In the recipe introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture, the burdock is shaved into thin slivers (sasagaki) and soaked in water, and the trick is not to change the water. The chicken is fried in oil or chicken fat until white, the burdock is added, and once it softens sugar goes in, then sake and soy sauce, and everything is cooked until the liquid is gone. Leave a little liquid if you want to colour the rice. Spread the mixture on freshly cooked rice, let it steam for 15 minutes and mix well.
A Taste of Celebrations, Made Famous by One Village One Product
Torimeshi was a must on hare days, the special occasions such as family gatherings and village festivals. It was a feast dish cooked in a big pot and shared among many people. It became known nationwide through Oita's One Village One Product movement, launched in 1979, which encouraged every community to develop one product to be proud of. Torimeshi was taken up as one of its dishes, and its name spread widely. In the Yoshino district of Oita City a preservation society has been formed to pass the recipe and taste on to the next generation. Fewer people make it at home today, but more buy it ready-made.
How to Pick Some Up on Your Trip
Torimeshi and torimeshi-no-moto, a ready-made topping you simply stir into rice, are easy to find in Oita supermarkets and farm stands. According to the Ministry of Agriculture some products even carry the producer's name, and regulars choose the maker whose taste they prefer. It is often sold as rice balls or boxed meals, perfect to buy on the way to Yufuin and eat in the car or on a walk. Stop at michi-no-eki roadside stations and farm stands around Yufuin and Oita and you will meet torimeshi that differs slightly from maker to maker: some with a strong burdock aroma, some sweeter. Try a few and compare. The torimeshi-no-moto mix is light and only needs stirring into rice at home, so it is popular as a gift.