Essentially Japanese Cooking & Cuisine - Hideo Dekura : The Charms of Life in Shirakawago

   Shirakawago in Gifu prefecture is one of the most famous mountain villages in Japan. It is not a historic spot with a prestigious shrine or temple, however it has beautiful scenery and its traditional old houses meant the village was proudly registered on the World Heritage list 1995. These gassho-zukuri houses, which were built in the 18th century when silk production flourished, were designed to protect against strong winds and heavy snow using Japanese pampas grass or a special local building material call sone. I am always amazed when I see the gables of these houses; the roofs have a substantial slope and create such a perfect picturesque scene. However, these villages have not always found it easy to preserve gassho-zukuri houses. When their main local industries had declined people had to leave the village to find work, and in the 1060s the village was partially flooded to build dams. Under these circumstances, they lost thirty per cent of the gassho-zukuri houses. Finally, the loss became big news throughout Japan and people began to protect them as an important part of their heritage. People's attitudes have gradually changed to appreciate the culture and value of village life. We should not choose economic benefit over our heritage. Shirakawago is now a big tourist destination and a prosperous village. However, I hope it will not become too commercialized and lose its beautiful traditional culture.

   In Shirakawago, there are many minshuku (Japanese bed and breakfast) where you can experience the local foods and stay in rooms where the floor is covered watami mats. Rooms are divided by fusuma (sliding screens).  I stayed at one called Furusata (meaning hometown or historic village), which is owned by the Kimura family. I was introduced to Mrs Minori Kimura, the 83-year-old mistress of Furusato who had been living in Shirakawago since she got married. Before dinner, Mrs Kimura greeted us in our room. She was a chrming and prcious person who knew all about the local history of the once prosperous forestry area and about the edible wild plants in the mountains. She had learnt how to preserve food, using these plants, from her ancestors. People then ate wild rabbit, pheasant, and even bear because this was the only way to get protein. People's lives were so isolated and harsh in the mountains, especially in the long winters with the intense cold and heavy snow falls that they had to work hard to survive.

   The local people valued miso as a priceless form of protein in their diet; however, the water around the area is hard because it comes from the volcanic region of the North Japan Alps so they couldn't use it for miso-soup. Miso was eaten with cooked rice. one day, the village people were working in the forests and as usual they brought cooked rice with miso as their lunch. Then they had the idea that miso might be rather delicious warmed up with the edible wild plants. They placed miso on the hoba (ficuslynata) leaf, grilled it over a fire and found it was really delicious. Nowadays, this dish is known as the most prestigious cuisine in this area and it is called "Hoba miso".

   Mrs Kinura (right) explained how to preserve the hoba leaves (above). When autumn comes and the leaves are falling, people collect them and bring them home. They rinse them thoroughly and blanch them in salted water to sterilize them, then let them dry naturally. When it's time to use the leaves, they just need to soak them in water for a while. Mrs Kimura said, "the relationship between nature and human beings is that we should get along with each other. We owe what we are to nature. Living in Shirakawago is co-existing with nature. I would like to give hospitality to my guests by serving food that I used to have."

   Hospitality does not need to be fancy, but full of knowledge and the love of nature and living creatures.

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Hoba Miso [Miso on the hoba leaf]
Ingredients:
  - 4 dried shiitake mushrooms, rinsed.
  - 100g akamiso or hacchomiso (dark brown miso paste)
  - 100g shishu miso (light brown miso)
  - 2 teaspoons veggie oil
  - 6 tablespoons mirin
  - 2 spring onions, trimmed and chopped.
  - 4 hoba leaves (if you cannot find hoba leaves, use aluminium foil instead)

Optional Ingredients:
  - Mushroom, spring onions, thinly sliced beef, egg or fried bean curd.

Steps:
 1 . Soak shiitake in water for 30 minutes. Drain and squeeze out the water, the slice.
 2. Combine akamiso, light brown miso, oil and mirin. Add to spring onion and the shiitake.
 3. Soak hoba leaves in luckwarm water for about 10 minutes.
 4. Place leaves on a grill or frying pan.
 5 Place miso mixture on top of the hoba and cook with desired optional ingredients over low heat.
[Serve with rice]