Jindai Curry For Souvenirs? Take This Package and Crackers!

Jindai Curry has been gaining popularity nationwide! You can taste the dish at several restaurants around Semboku City (see the map) or at events such as the Annual B-1 Gourmet Grand Prix and their sponsoring Akita Northern Happinets home games!

Jindai Curry

If you’d like to take the flavor to your home country as a souvenir, you can take this package, Akita Jindai Curry, which contains two servings of both two curries, old style and modern style. You can find it at places like Tazawako Hotel Ischia shop.

Akita Jindai Curry (2 Servings; 945 Yen)

Another option you would enjoy is Jindai Curry Okaki （神代カレーおかき）! These rice crackers (“okaki”) of two flavors, designed by Omagari High School students, absolutely retain the essence of Jindai Curry’s flavor! The crispy texture is addictive as well!

Jindai Curry Okaki (230Yen)

Try some Akita's Gourmet for Lower Prices at Lake Tazawa (Oct. 8)

Kyoei Paresu, a souvenir shop at Lake Tazawa, invites you to a food event on October 8th. The festival will offer you some of Akita’s delicious specialties like Jindai Curry, Miso Tanpo, Kiritanpo Nabe, Inaniwa Udon, Babahera Icecream, and many others, for cheaper prices. Kyoei Paresu is a restaurant where the popular wide rice noodle, Tazawako B-men, has been invented; of course, it will be available – this time served with some curry and only for 100 Yen.

It is a great chance for you to try the dishes all at the same time! Please stop by!

Gourmet Event

at Kyoei Paresu Backyard

October 8th, 2011. At 11:00 – 15:00

Yokote Yakisoba（横手やきそば） 400 Yen

Jindai Curry （神代カレー）500 Yen

Tazawako B-men with Curry （田沢湖Ｂ麺カレー味）100 Yen

Inaniwa Udon （稲庭うどん）100 Yen

Babahera Icecream　（ババヘラアイス） 200 Yen

Kiritanpo Nabe　（きりたんぽ鍋） 200 Yen

Hinai-Jidori Yakitori (Broiled Local Chicken of Hinai) 比内地鶏の焼き鳥300Yen

Hachimantai Pork and Mushroom Soup （八幡平ポークときのこ汁）100 Yen

Fried Sandfish （ハタハタのから揚げ）200 Yen

Taenoyu and Jindai Curry Group at Happinets Game

Last weekend, the Taenoyu family and Jindai Curry promoters gathered at Akita Northern Happinets' home game in Akita City!

Taenoyu Co., Ltd. （妙の湯）is an official team partner of Akita Northern Happinets, a professional basketball team of Akita Prefecture.

Other partners from Tazawako are Yama-no-Hachimitsuya Bee Skep （山のはちみつ屋ビースケップ）, a honey shop near Lake Tazawa, and Tsurunoyu Onsen （鶴の湯温泉）, a 360 year-old hot spring inn in Nyuto Onsen-kyo Area.

Jindai Curry booth at Akita Northern Happinets Game

Jindai Curry　(神代カレー） is one of the booths opened at the home games. Only 100 servings were available on a day! Try this curry plate, which is available at some restaurants in Semboku City (map).

At Happinets games, Jindai Curry is sold in a lunch box (“Jindai Curry Bento”) for 700 yen. It includes two types of curries, some steamed white rice (Jindai-mai), iburigakko (smoked and pickled radish), and an onsen-tamago (half-boiled egg). Jindai Curry retort packages  are available as well. One package with two servings is only 630 yen! It makes a good souvenir.

Taenoyu Group is best known for Taenoyu Onsen, one of the seven Nyuto Onsen inns. Hotel Ischia, also managed by the same company, hosted the team’s New Year’s party in January. Many people who came this day have met the team in person, been impressed by their dedication and friendliness, and agreed to come support the team at a game.

Ms. Kyoko Sato is the famous o-kami san of Taenoyu Onsen.

Akita Northern Happinets played against Takamatsu Five Arrows this day. The Akita team has the largest average number of audiences in Japan! No wonder why, because they had completely entertained us all!

The excitement had made us jump up and down the whole time— especially towards the end of the game, when the team’s victory was becoming certain. At the height of the excitement, the Taenoyu and Jindai Curry group was also giving the team loudest cheers!

With the exuberant feeling of victory, the group reassured the continuous support of the team! Perhaps the Taenoyu and Jindai Group feel connected to the basketball team, because they share the hope to revitalize and cheer up the Akita’s local community.

Yokote Yakisoba-kan Yu in Yokote City

Yokote City (横手市） is the second largest city in Akita Prefecture after Akita City, which is known for the apples, snow (and kamakura igloos), and last but not the least, Yokote Yakisoba　（横手やきそば）!

Yokote Yakisoba has become nationally known by the Yokote B-1 Grand Prix, which is a national food contest of regional specialties that is especially popular for the low price. Yokote Yakisoba, a stir-fried noodle dish from Yokote City, has won the first place in 2010.

Today the Yokote has been counted as one of the three major Yakisoba of Japan along with the Fujinomiya and the Joshu-ota Yakisoba.

Yokote Yakisoba is defined with thick straight noodle that is stir-fried with cabbage, ground pork, and/or pork offal. The sauce is rather sweet and a mixture of Worcestershire sauce and fish broths, whose taste slightly varies from the restaurants. On the top is an egg lightly fried on one side, and on the side is a spoonful fukujinzuke (various types of vegetables pickled in soy sauce), rather than the conventional benishoga (pickled “red ginger”).

Break the egg, add some more sauce if you would like, sprinkle some aonori (dry powder of seaweed) and mix it all -—that is how the authentic local way to enjoy it!

Yokote Yakisoba is, like its counterpart Jindai Curry in Semboku City, an important resource to revitalize the community. It has been promoted by a preservation group called Yokote Yakisoba Noren-kai, which also certifies restaurants where authentic Yokote Yakisoba is served.

Idehaya （出端屋）has been chosen as one of the four major authentic Yokote Yakisoba shops that own a branch shop in Tazawako Ski Area. (read more) You can visit the original location in Yokote City. Here is another restaurant you could visit on your Yokote Trip: Yokote Yakisoba-kan Yu　（横手焼そばゆう）.

Yokote Yakisoba-kan Yu (横手やきそば館　ゆう）

The restaurant is located within 1 minute from Yokote City Tourist Information Center, Kamakura-kan　（かまくら館）, and right across the street from Shohei-ji temple’s red gate. (See the map on the link: #5)

Yokote Yakisoba-kan Yu’s Yokote Yakisoba is served for only 500 yen. There are other types of Yakisoba dishes on low prices (500- 700 yen) as well: Seafood Yakisoba, Pork Offal Yakisoba, and Vegetable Yakisoba.

Yokote Yakisoba-kan Yu is open 11:00 – 14:00 and 17:00- 21:00.

Aigake Jindai Tanpo, For You On-the-Go

Aigake Jindai Curry group has come up with another brand new idea for you to enjoy the delicious meal.

This time the two-curry combo is served with a rice-paste on stick-- just like our local specialty, miso-tanpo, but served with the delicious curries.

Courtesy of Sakigake On-the-Web

 

According to Akita’s local newspaper, Akita Sakigake Shinpo, the tanpo version of Aigake Jindai Curry had just made its first appearance on December 6 at a celebratory party of Jindai Curry’s promoters group, Jindai Area Revitalization Group (神代地域活性化協議会). The group has been incorporated as an association corporation.

A tanpo is a semi-pasted rice ball on cedar stick roasted on coal fire that is typically served with sweet miso paste.

Aigake Jindai Tanpo is, on the other hand, served on a plate with two styles of curries over it: an old home style from 1950s and modern demi-glace based curry. This new item has been created to make it easier to eat-and-walk at events where it will be available.

Jindai Curry on regular plates are available all year around at local restaurants. We are looking forward to trying the tanpo version at local events as well ;)

JINDAI CURRY MAP: Where You Can Try

Aigake Jindai Curry is a curry and rice plate in which you can try different kinds of localized food items such as curries (modern restaurant and homey grandma style in Jindai Area), Akita's high quality rice, egg, and iburi-gakko (smoked and pickled vegetables). Read more

Here is a map of restaurants where you can try:

Courtesy of Aigake Jindai Curry

1. Rurumetto (ルルメット）

2. Ajisai (味彩）

3. Morinoeki (森の駅）

4. Hotel Ischia　（ホテル　イスキア）

5. Sakura Komachi　（さくら小町）

6. Bakkya　（ばっきゃ）

7. Katanko　（片栗花）

8. Dakigaeri Baiten Shop　（抱返り売店）

Smoked and Pickled: Iburi-Gakko, A Must Food in Akita

Iburi-gakko (いぶりがっこ) is one of the foods that you "must" try while traveling in Akita.  The name might not be familiar, but we are sure you would recognize this:

 

Tsukemono, or  "Pickled Things" :

Pickled vegetables are called tsukemono in Japanese. They are served regularly almost with every meal and play a significant part in our Japanese cuisine. The "pickled things" accompany almost any type of dishes in various occasions — with rice and miso soup, as a condiment of a rice ball (e.g. umeboshi, pickled plums), as a palate freshner served with sushi (e.g. gari, pickled gingers), as a garnish for okonomiyaki (e.g. benishoga, red slices of pickled gingers) and the list continues…

 

Akita's Unique Culture of "Pickled Things":

Iburi-gakko is basically a type of takuan (pickled daikon radish) ; but what makes them distinct is that they are smoked before pickled !

In Akita, "tsukemono" are called “gakko”. Iburi-gakko literally means “smoked and pickled things”. Akita's winter climate - humid and low temperature with a large amount of snow-  nurtured this distinctive technique of preserving vegetables. The culture of pickled vegetables is seen in  the whole region and among all generations. Believe it or not, traditionally, these salty vegetables are even served as tea accompaniments!

Many different kinds of pickled vegetables are found in Akita Prefecture.

Most typical iburi-gakko is radish but, in recent years, you could find that of carrots aw well. The vegetables are hung inside a specially designed shack, where cherry or apple logs are used to smoke the vegetables. After a few days, the vegetables develops a darkened colored on their skins; that is when they are finally  pickled in a mixture of nuka (rice bran) and salt.

A producer in San-nai area in Yokote City.

This technique is passed down through generations, but the number of iburi-gakko producers are declining, so that it is becoming more difficult to find them. That is why you must not miss a chance to try iburi-gakko! Typically, Fukujin-zuke is served as a garnish of curry and rice plate; however, Aigake Jindai Curry replaces it with iburi-gakko!

Click to read more on Aigake Jindai Curry

and find out where you can try it! 

Photo Courtesy of Aigake Jindai Curry.

VOTE for JINDAI CURRY at B1 in Atsugi

This coming weekend, September 18-19th, Jindai Curry is going to compete in a championship of local foods, called B1 Grand Prix in Atsugi. Jindai Curry will be competing with 45 other local foods from all over Japan. B1 is a category of foods that are lesser-known than the signature local cuisines (e.g. Kiritanpo and Inaniwa Udon in Akita Prefecture) but enjoyed widely by the local people.

Each visitor has a pair of chopsticks—two votes. By the end of the game, the weight of chopsticks is measured to decide which dish is the best. Last year, the winner was Yokote Yakisoba. Jindai Curry got the 4th place. Almost there!

Jindai Curry and Curranger! Find them in Atsugi!

THE 5TH ANNUAL B1 GRAND PRIX IN ATSUGI

September 18-19th, 2010. At 10:00-16:00

Event Sites:

#1: Itoyokado (イトーヨーカドー）Parking Lot
#2: Atsugi Yakyu-Jo （Atsugi Baseball Field: 厚木野球場）
#3: Loco Food Festa KANAGAWA Site (厚木中央公園)

FREE OF CHARGE!!!

 FOOD COUPONS ARE SOLD FOR 300-500 Yen.

JINDAI CURRY BOOTH IS LOCATED IN THE EVENT SITE #1.

THE BOOTH NUMBER IS 6. 

Find the yellow suite of Curranger and follow your nose...

Meet the Jindai Curry Super Hero:

The group of Jindai Curry Promoters is consisted of 30 members with various backgrounds. They are mainly enthusiastic business men in the tourism and agriculture industries. The leader is Mr. Koichiro Sato, Executive Managing Director of the Taenoyu Group (Taenoyu Onsen, Hotel Ischia, and Miyako Wasure).

Jindai Curry Ranger (機動販売戦隊 神代カレンジャー)

The members are easily spotted out. They call themselves “Jindai Currangers (神代カレンジャー)." The yellow costume is custom-made: the two yellows of curry roux, white of Jindai rice, and silver of the silverware. And what’s more—the boiled egg on the belt.

Curranger (Curry-Ranger) in front of the new rice crop.

The members are such fun-loving people that they come up with some innovative events! They have served foods to the IRIS filming groups during the 2009 shoot. They are supportive and cheerful people for our community! Please support them!

"Do you like your mom's curry better? Or, your father's?" (In Standard Japanese Vers.)

The similar plot now in Akita dialect with Standard Japanese Subtitles. LOL

What is Jindai Curry?

Jindai Area is known as the producers of Japan’s #1 quality rice. Needless to say, the rice consumption is the most important in promoting the economy in the region. That is what the Jindai Curry is all about.

Jindai Curry (神代カレー）

Now, Curry and rice is a signature home-style cooking in Japan. Japanese curry might not like you would expect from Indian curry. It is mainly made of curry powder, flour, and oil for the roux and served with various kinds of vegetables and meat. Some might say it is not as spicy as the Indian, but flavorful as much that it boosts your appetite to eat more rice. Rice and Curry are married and unseperatable forever.

Japanese curry was introduced by the British and Indians in the Meiji era (1869-1913). It was not until the Showa 30s (1950s) that curry became a common dish in the rural region. In Jindai Area, home-made solid roux of curry powder and flour fried in a pan was rather common. Vegetables, fish sausages, and canned whale or mackerel were the main ingredients to be stewed with the roux and seasoned with soy sauce.

Today the modern style curry has more intricate mixture of spices. Back in the 1950s, the lighter Jindai curry was more suitable for children and quite popular at home. As the solid curry roux was available at local grocery stores in the 1960s, the cooking methods became less common but still remains in a few homes as a Granma’s style!

Jindai Curry combines both the same ol’ Granma’s Style and today’s modern restaurant style. It is served side by side with a bowl of white Jindai Rice （神代米）a half-boiled onsen egg, and slices of iburi-gakko, another Akita's specialty, smoked-and-picked radish.

Japan-Vietnam Performing Arts Festival at WARABI-ZA

Warabi-za, the theater company located in Semboku City,  is proudly hosting an international performing arts event as a part of the Japan-Mekong Exchange Year 2009.

Title: An Evining for Japanese and Vietnamese Traditional Performing Arts
Place: Warabi-za  Theater (Inside of Tazawako Art Village)
Date and Time: December 13th, 2009. Opening from 15:30~

This is an FREE EVENT.
Reservation is required.


Warabi-za evolves a style that is one of a kind, now hardly found in Modern Japanese theater companies. They represent their strong belief in preserving Asian traditional arts, particularly the traditional and indigenous arts in Japan.

Warabi-za Theater

Touring Internationally as well

Although they take their theme from traditional topics,  they also challenge controversial topics in aproachable style : A musical romantic comedies about local Jinday Curry ("Cupid wa doko" opening in Jan.) and more serious musical drama dealing with issues of gender in traditional values ("Maiko-no-kura" now playing).

They are truly a gem of our rural culture that is now under-represented in media. They proudly take a mission to carry on to the next generation. 

 (Warabi-za English Website: http://www.warabi.jp/english/index.html)