🍱 Kaga Futo Kyuri no Ankake

In Kanazawa City, which once upon a time prospered as a castle town, specialty vegetables have been passed down since the feudal era. In order to hand down these locally-rooted vegetables to future generations, Kanazawa City has established a certification system for “Kaga vegetables” and is working to popularize and promote them. Kaga vegetables are defined as those which were cultivated before 1945 and are still being cultivated today in Kanazawa City. As of now 15 items are certified, including: Sweet potato, Kaga lotus root, Kaga pickled soybean, purple calyx eggplant, Gensuke daikon radish, and Kanazawa ippon green onion. Among the certified items, especially high-quality (outstanding) vegetables are distributed with a brand seal affixed. Kaga giant cucumber, one of the Kaga vegetables, is mainly produced in Uchigi Town and Kahoku within Kanazawa City. As the name suggests, the fruit is nearly 20cm long and grows to a diameter of 5cm to 6cm. Large ones weigh between 500g and 600g, much heavier than ordinary cucumbers. These cucumbers first appeared in 1936, when a farmer in the Kuan Town area inherited the seeds of short-cut cucumbers from the Tohoku region and started cultivating them. At that time they were similar to gourds, and due to natural crossbreeding over many years the fruit diameter grew rounder and the color changed from yellow to green. It's said that it took its current form around 1952. Today it has moved from open-field cultivation to greenhouse cultivation, and is shipped not only to the local area, but also to Tokyo and Kansai. Kaga giant cucumbers are used in vinegared dishes and soups, but “Kaga futo kyuri no ankake” is a popular summer staple dish.