🍱 Hattojiru

Hatto is a local flour dish eaten throughout the northern part of the prefecture. Water is added to flour, and the mixture is kneaded until it is the consistency of earlobes, then left to rest for an appropriate amount of time, spread thinly with fingers, and boiled. In the past, women were good at making it so thin that you could see through to the other side. In the Tome and Kurihara regions, it is called "hatto" or "hatto," in the Tamatsukuri region "tsumeiri" or "tsumire," and in other regions "hitotsumi. Hatto is eaten in a variety of ways, like rice cakes, and is sometimes served in a soup called "hatto soup" or with red bean paste or zunda-an (sweet red bean paste). Hatto has a long history, dating back 400 years to the era of the feudal government. In the Tome region, which was one of the Date clan's major rice-producing areas, farmers were unable to eat enough rice to satisfy their needs because rice was given to the clan after the annual tribute was paid under the "rice purchase" system. In addition to barley rice, farmers in their wisdom turned wheat from their fields into flour, kneaded it into a paste, boiled it, and ate it as "hatto. At first, "hatto" was a substitute for rice, but over the years, it became a tastier and more popular food. However, the lords who ruled the Tome region were concerned that the farmers might neglect rice cultivation, and they began to prohibit the consumption of this dish except on special occasions, hence the name "hatto". The soup stock and ingredients used for Hatto soup vary from region to region and from household to household, even within the Tome region. The soup stock is made from dried bonito flakes and dried sardines, and the ingredients include seasonal vegetables, mushrooms, chicken, and pork, and the taste has been passed down from mother to son for generations. Even today, hatto soup is served at local events throughout the four seasons.