🍱 Hamana-miso (Amazake based Miso with salt-pickled eggplant)

"Hamana Miso" is a seasonal local dish, available only in winter. It is made by creating amazake(= a sweet rice-based sake) from rice koji and adding ingredients such as soybean koji, soy sauce, salt-pickled eggplant, perilla seeds, ginger, and others. The mild sweetness of amazake combines with the richness of koji and the savory aroma of soy sauce, creating a highly appetizing flavor that represents the taste of the hometown. It is said that Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Edo period favored "Hamanatto" and his second son, Yuki Hideyasu, brought the food culture of Hamamatsu to Echizen after the Battle of Sekigahara, transforming it into an overwintering food suited to the climate of Fukui Prefecture. In the past, it was said to be served during the New Year's greetings rounds known as "O-nentou," where homemade "Hamana Miso" was offered.