🍲 Dango Jiru (dumpling soup)
Oita Prefecture has a well-developed plateau and much of its land is unsuitable for rice cultivation, so field-based grain cultivation, such as wheat, has been popular for centuries. Since most of the grain was made into flour, the flour-based food culture has taken root in many places in Oita Prefecture. “Dango Jiru” (dumpling soup) is a good example of this. Dumplings made by kneading wheat flour and stretching it into thin strips, along with other ingredients, are served in a soup made with barley miso, which are popular in Kyushu, combined miso or white miso. It was routinely eaten as a substitute for rice at a time when rice was in short supply. The word "dango" is usually thought of as a spherical dumpling, but in Oita, the dumpling is stretched out by hand. It is firmer than Udon, and you can enjoy its chewy texture. It looks like Kishimen noodles, but the name is said to have originated from the fact that it is rolled up and laid down for a while as if you were making dumplings. The reason for making a thin strip afterwards is to help the flavors soak in when they are cooked in the soup. In Fukuoka and Kumamoto prefectures it is called "Dago Jiru".