Move over, fall foliage forecast, and make room for this year’s predictions about the opening of hotpot season.
Is there anything better when the temperature dips than a communal nabe/nabemono (hotpot) dish that you can share with family and friends? Sukiyaki, shabu shabu, chankonabe, oden…in Japan, the list of comforting, wholesome dishes goes on and on and varies from region to region. For instance, the custom of cooking the local-style nabe, imoni, by a river is so important to residents of Yamagata Prefecture that children take school field trips to learn how to prepare the dish by themselves.
▼ Imoni being prepared by junior high school students
If you’re someone who can’t wait for hotpot season to arrive, luckily, condiment company Mizkan has got your back this year. The company has done some investigating to determine that the time at which people start to want to eat nabe is when the temperature stays below 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) for three days in a row. Consequently, Mizkan has predicted the best time for all different kinds of nabe around the country in its newly created 2024 National Nabe Opening Forecast map (likely as a parody of the annual cherry blossom or fall foliage forecasts seen in Japan), whose production was supervised by professional weathercaster Eriko Maruta. The map breaks Japan into 10 common regions to predict when families will start breaking out the hotpots this year based on local weather patterns.
▼ 2024 National Nabe Opening Forecast map
Let’s take a closer look at the nabe opening forecast for each of the 10 regions (traveling north to south) along with Mizkan’s own newly created, inventive nabe recipes for all 47 prefectures of Japan that showcase local ingredients and seasonings. Itadakimasu!
Hokkaido (nabe opening forecast: mid/late September)
● Hokkaido: Butter potato yosenabe
Tohoku (nabe opening forecast: late September/early October)
● Aomori: Garlic and apple miso-nabe
● Iwate: Jajamen kimchi-nabe
● Miyagi: Seri and pork rib salty lemon-nabe
● Akita: Kiritanpo-nabe
● Yamagata: Imoni kimchi-nabe
● Fukushima: Daikon radish and pork rib disc kimchi-nabe
▼ (Left to right) Hokkaido and Tohoku nabe recipes
Kanto/Koshin (nabe opening forecast: mid-October)
● Ibaraki: Soboro (mincemeat) natto kimchi-nabe
● Tochigi: Chive gyoza kimchi-nabe
● Gunma: Konnyaku miso-nabe
● Saitama: Scallion senbei-nabe
● Chiba: Peanuts miso-nabe
● Tokyo: Harajuku colorful nabe
● Kanagawa: Yokohama shumai yakiago (flying fish)-nabe
● Yamanashi: White wine Mt. Fuji’s dome-name
● Nagano: Mushroom umami-nabe
▼ (Left to right) Kanto/Koshin nabe recipes
Hokuriku (nabe opening forecast: mid-October)
● Niigata: Yaki-onigiri and kaki no tane-nabe
● Fukui: Crab yakiago dashi-nabe
● Ishikawa: Seafood treasure chest-nabe
● Toyama: Amberjack dashi shabu
▼ (Left to right) Hokuriku nabe recipes
Tokai (nabe opening forecast: late October)
● Gifu: Okeichan miso-nabe
● Shizuoka: Matcha Mt. Fuji’s dome-nabe
● Aichi: Hatcho miso kimchi-nabe
● Mie: Smell-of-the-sea sea lettuce seafood-nabe
▼ (Left to right) Tokai nabe recipes
Kinki/Kansai (nabe opening forecast: mid-October)
● Shiga: Lake Biwa shabu shabu (shime no su-yaki)
● Kyoto: Turnip and tofu sesame tofu milk-nabe
● Osaka: Takoyaki-nabe
● Hyogo: Onion gratin soup-nabe
● Nara: Asuka-nabe
● Wakayama: Umeboshi and pork tofu milk-nabe
▼ (Left to right) Kinki/Kansai nabe recipes
Chugoku (nabe opening forecast: mid-October)
● Tottori: Chinese onion kimchi-nabe
● Shimane: Shijimi clam yakiago enmusubi-nabe
● Okayama: Kibidango-nabe
● Hiroshima: Oyster salty butter lemon-nabe
● Yamaguchi: Kawara soba-nabe
▼ (Left to right) Chugoku nabe recipes
Shikoku (nabe opening forecast: late October)
● Tokushima: Naruto wakame and sudachi yosenabe
● Kagawa: Fragrant olive udon-nabe
● Ehime: Sea bream and mitsuba sesame tofu milk-nabe
● Kochi: Yuzu ginger yakiago-nabe
▼ (Left to right) Shikoku nabe recipes
Kyushu (nabe opening forecast: mid/late October)
● Fukuoka: Boiled gyoza-nabe
● Saga: Nori seafood kimchi-nabe
● Nagasaki: Chanpon-nabe
● Kumamoto: Taipien-nabe
● Oita: Pork kabosu shabu shabu-nabe
● Miyazaki: Charcoal-grilled chicken-nabe
● Kagoshima: Satsuma-age yakiago dashi-nabe
Okinawa (nabe opening forecast: mid-December)
● Okinawa: Soki soba-nabe
▼ (Left to right) Kyushu and Okinawa nabe recipes
Recipes in Japanese for all of the above dishes can be found on Mizkan’s special website created for the 2024 National Nabe Opening Forecast. If, on the other hand, you’re starting to crave something hot, broth-filled, and fast, we have plenty of other unique suggestions for your stay in Japan, such as this matcha cream shio ramen or the noodles at a buzzing new ramen joint in Akihabara.
Source: PR Times, Mizkan
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, SoraNews24
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