🍱 Hoshi-kabocha no Egoma-ae (Dried pumpkin dressed with perilla seeds)

The region known as Kinasa, also called the "Valley Capital," has a long-standing food culture of drying and preserving vegetables. Surrounded by mountains, the Kinasa region used to be cut off from external transportation when snow accumulated, leading to the practice of drying and preserving food to endure the long winters. Drying vegetables not only changes their taste and texture but also enriches their nutritional content. The act of "drying" is not just about preserving flavor but is also a practical wisdom for efficiently consuming surplus vegetables. In spring, wild vegetables like fern shoots (zenmai) and warabi (bracken root) are dried. In summer, eggplants are thinly sliced and dried, resulting in a texture resembling meat when rehydrated. In autumn, various vegetables such as pumpkins and daikon radish are prepared for storage. As the saying goes, "On the Winter Solstice, take care of the pumpkins," as pumpkins, if left as is, may freeze or rot after winter. So, people dry them for winter storage. Pumpkin is cut into strips, spread on wooden boards, and dried until completely dehydrated. When ready to eat, it is washed, boiled, and used in sesame dressing, simmered dishes, or even as a filling for rice cakes. After the daikon radishes and leafy vegetables have been harvested, they are bundled with straw and hung under the eaves. Throughout winter, they are left to dry in a well-ventilated, shaded area. When it's time to eat, they are taken down and used in cooking. In Nagano Prefecture, there is another drying method that takes advantage of the severe winter cold and dry climate―freeze-drying. Products like agar jelly, frozen mochi, frozen daikon radish, and frozen tofu undergo repeated freezing and thawing in the outdoor air, gradually losing moisture in the dry winter climate. This freeze-drying technique, born out of the harsh winter conditions in Shinshu (Nagano), is truly a culinary culture derived from practical wisdom in daily life.