🍲 Gameni (chicken stew)

Among the many regional dishes of Saga Prefecture, the standard is gameni chicken stew. The stew is called "chikuzenni chicken stew" nationwide. It is also loved as a regional dish in other regions of Kyushu, including Hakata. The stew is a dish in which a lot of root vegetables and chicken are fried and thoroughly simmered. It is said that the dish was created when Hideyoshi Toyotomi was sending troops to Korea during the Imjin War. When his large army encamped in Hakata, they caught many softshell turtles in Hakata's inlets and marshes, simmered them with vegetables, and ate the stew. That was the origin of the dish. At the time, softshell turtles were called "river turtles" or "mud turtles," and then the dish was named "gameni (turtle stew)." Today, the dish doesn't use turtles; it uses chicken. The dish lives on as a special dish on special days. It is eaten during festivals such as the Okunchi festival and celebrations such as New Year's.