🍲 Toyama Kabu no Kasu-jiru (Toyama Turnip Soup with Sake Lees)

“Toyama-Kabu” (turnip) is a traditional vegetable of Yamagata Prefecture that originated in Yonezawa City. Its name comes from the Toyama area of Yonezawa City, where it was brought by the Uesugi family when they came to Yonezawa City in 1600. Around 1800, the feudal lord Uesugi Takaama issued a decree as one of the measures to boost the local industry: "Radish should be grown in the east, Zusa-yama, turnips in Nishiyama, and autumn turnips in Toyama." Thus the cultivation of autumn turnips began in Toyama. There are several varieties of native turnips in the prefecture, including "Fujisawa Turnips" and "Mogami Turnips," but only “Toyama Turnips” are white and round. It has a stronger flavor and sweeter taste than ordinary turnips, and its tough flesh prevents it from falling apart when cooked. Once threatened with decline, volunteers who wanted to preserve the taste gathered to find the only one producer who had the last seed. Even today, “Toyama Kabu” is recognized as one of the "Yamagata Okitama Traditional Vegetables," and the local production cooperative is working on its production and spread to protect the species. "Toyama Kabu no Kasu-jiru" is a soup with “Toyama Kabu” and “Uchimame,” an ingredient unique to snowy Yonezawa City. "Uchimame" is made by soaking soybeans in water and pounding them flat with a wooden hammer. Dried beans can be stored for a long time, on the other hand, it takes long time to cook them, so that they are flattened to make them easier to cook. As side note, “Yukina,” a traditional vegetable also in Yonezawa City, is said to be a flower stalk of a cross between ”Toyama Kabu” and “Nagaoka Vegetables,” and for this reason, older people still call "Yukina" to "Kabu-no-to".