🍱 Chobo jiru

Chobo-jiru is a traditional local dish of Awaji Island that has been served since the Edo period (1603-1868). It consists of dumplings, common beans, and zuki beans in a thick broth. It looks similar to oshiruko (sweet bean soup), but it is not sweet. The dumplings made of sugar beans and glutinous rice flour are highly nutritious, and the zuiki is said to purge old blood and cleanse the blood. It was customary for mothers to make this dish for their daughters to restore their strength after childbirth, saying, "I feed it to my wife to improve her milk supply after childbirth. They would make a lot of it in a pot and serve it to relatives and neighbors who gathered to celebrate the birth. It is also customary to make chobojiru at the time of a child's shrine visit and distribute it to relatives and acquaintances. The name "chobo soup" comes from the wish that the child will have a cute chobo mouth. The dumplings in the soup are either hollowed out in the middle or rounded if the baby is a girl, or pointed if the baby is a boy. If it is a boy, the dumplings should be pointed. This is to wish for the healthy growth of the child.