🍲 Imoni(taro soup)
“Imoni” (taro soup) is said to have originated in the mid-1600s. At that time, the Nakayama-machi Nagasaki area, the last stop for the Mogami River boat service, was a place to pick up cargo brought from the Kamigata (Kyoto-Osaka area) via Sakata. However, at that time there was no way to communicate to announce the arrival of a boat, so the boatmen had to wait for days before the consignee showed up, and they would hold a party around a pot on the riverbank to pass the time. As there was a village called Koshio near the pier, which was famous for taro production, they would cook taro and dried cod from the cargo in a pot and eat them. This is believed to be the root of the present day "Imoni". The use of beef started around the beginning of the Showa period (around 1930). The seasoning and ingredients of "Imoni" differ from region to region. The Shonai region, which faces the Sea of Japan, is especially unique in that when the tradition of the inland area's Imoni was introduced to the Shonai region, the locals chose pork and miso (which goes well with the pork), because the pig farming industry was active in the region.