🍱 Okuzukake

Shojin ryori (vegetarian food) is eaten mainly in the southern part of the prefecture during the higan (equinox) and obon (Bon festival) seasons in spring and fall. It is also a form of hospitality for people gathered for Buddhist memorial services. It is eaten as an offering to the Buddha and as a home-style dish. It is made by simmering several kinds of vegetables, tofu, deep-fried tofu, and fu in shiitake mushroom mash, adding shiraishi hot noodles, and thickening the mixture with kuzu flour. In modern times, katakuriko (potato starch) is often used instead of kuzu flour to thicken the noodles. Shiroishi On-men, a specialty of Shiroishi City in the southern part of the prefecture, is slightly thicker than somen noodles and is considered easy to digest because no oil is used during processing. Vegetables used as ingredients vary from household to household, although they are mostly what is available at that time of the year. In any case, it has a gentle taste with dashi broth, and is popular among people of all ages, from children to the elderly. In the northern part of the prefecture, there is another type of vegetable soup called "suppoko" or "nopponjiru," which is similar to "okuzugake. The preparation method is almost the same, but there is a difference in whether it is eaten on a daily basis or on special occasions.