Houtou

It's been months since I did any real cooking, and I'm starting to miss it. The heat of summer is gone and I'm no longer pressed for time, so I have few excuses left. And while my back still hurts if I bend over my low counters for too long, chopping a few vegetables is hardly going to kill me. So after weeks of salads and quickly thrown-together meals, it's time to get cooking again.

My first attempt was spurred by a souvenir from my boss: a package of houtou (flat udon-like noodles) picked up on a trip to the country. Houtou is actually a meibutsu (famous product) of Yamanashi prefecture but is a country dish found all over the Kanto area including Okutama in western Tokyo, where these noodles came from. There are a few variations, but hoto is always made nikomi (noodles boiled together with broth and other ingredients, as opposed to boiled seperately in water) style, with a hearty miso flavoured broth and plenty of vegetables, including kabocha squash. The kabocha is key, but any other number of vegetables can be used, and chicken or pork are often added as well. Houtou is properly served in a large cast-iron pot and ladled into smaller bowls for eating.

Lacking the proper pot I made do with my donabe (clay pot), but I didn't forget the kabocha--it's one of my favourite vegetables. Because the package included a little pouch of miso to flavour the broth with, this barely counts as cooking: I just chopped up some daikon, negi (long onion), shiitake, kabocha and atsu-age (fried tofu), simmered them in dashi (kelp and bonito stock), and added the noodles and miso flavouring. But it was just enough work to count as home-made, and boy was it good.

Originally this was supposed to be a one-dish meal but I decided to make kombu to daikon no itame-ni (daikon and kelp braised in soy sauce) with the daikon peels and kombu leftover from making the dashi, and the spinach intended for the broth became horenso no goma-ae (spinach dressed with sesame seeds). I guess I really have missed cooking, and the houtou prep just wasn't enough. The extra time it took to make the side dishes caused the kabocha fell apart, but I like it that way so no big deal. And the houtou looked awfully monochrome (the melted kabocha turned the whole thing orange) without the spinach. But while this may fail as an aesthetically proper Japanese meal, it was perfect comfort food.

Houtou is worth seeking out if you're ever in Yamanashi (home of Mount Fuji), and if you're not here's a basic recipe that includes directions for the noodles themselves.

JapanSoc it!

Comments

[NekoMama7]

Hi there.

I think o-houtou tastes better the next day. There were some limited quantity of houtou sets sold at some Japanese grocery markets here in Los Angeles a few months ago. VERY expensive, but it's one of those nostalgic thing, I had to get one. My mother is from Yamanashi and I grew up eating o-houtou.

Yours looks very yummy for those of us who know what o-houtou should look like. Okutama borders with Yamanashi, so there's no question they share some local cusine. It's funny the exterier package says Okutama, but the sauce packet says Koshu (that's Yamanashi area or style).

[Wendy]

Glad you're starting to cook again. Always loved your recipes.

[Amy]

NekoMama, I'm glad to have the approval of an expert, thanks! I thought Koshu on the miso package was funny too, but I just assumed it was to indicate that the miso was Koshu miso (as far as I know there's no such thing as Okutama miso so it makes sense).

Thanks Wendy!

[elarael]

It does look very homey and good!

[Peko Peko]

I am a houtou maniac! There is only one brand that I can find in Kyoto that I REARRY, REARRY like though. And it HAS TO BE 'nama'. We did this article with it last winter. As winter is upon us, I am looking forward to lots of houtou in the near future!

[Hairy White Prince]

Thank you for the lovely info....
I last tried Houtou in Yamanashi and loved it! I found a soba shop in Shinjuku 2 cho mae that had it but it was crap. I found some of the noodles at Seijo Ishi yesterday and am cooking them up as I write this! See YA~