🍲 Kasu-jiru (Soup with a sake lees base)

“Kasu-jiru” is a local dish which consists of daikon radish, carrots, burdock root, konjac, and other ingredients simmered in sake lees, a byproduct of sake brewing process. Fish, such as salmon, yellowtail, and mackerel are also sometimes added to this dish. Sake lees are often consumed in mountainous areas during the cold winter months. People who work in sake brewing areas bring sake lees back home as a souvenir. Hyogo Prefecture is the largest producer of sake in Japan, with the Nada-Gogo area accounting for around 30% of the country's sake production and more than 60% of the nation's cultivation of Yamada-Nishiki, the king of sake rice. The history of sake in Japan is long, with the Harimakuni Fudoki, written 1,300 years ago, mentioning sake made with rice koji. Sake lees have also been used since the Heian period as a way to preserve fish and vegetables. Sake lees are rich in yeast, protein, vitamins, and minerals, making them a nourishing food. The custom of eating kasu-jiru on January 20, the last day of the New Year celebration, involves making broth from the heads and bones of salmon and amberjack, which were eaten during the New Year, and simmering them with sake lees and vegetables to celebrate the end of the season.