Journeys in photographs and words.
A bowl of mettajiru, full of ingredients
A bowl of mettajiru, full of ingredients

A hearty pork miso soup full of root vegetables, distinguished by using sweet potato in place of the usual potato. The name is said to come from tossing in, or chopping up, ingredients "yatara mettara," with abandon. In Kabi (Mold), a novel by Tokuda Shusei, one of Ishikawa's great writers, the characters make and eat mettajiru. I made mine with Kagai Miso from Takagi Koji Shoten.

Ingredients

  • Pork
  • Sweet potato
  • Konnyaku
  • Carrots
  • Shiitake
  • Leeks
  • Miso (Kagai Miso)

How I made it

  1. Cut the pork and vegetables
  2. Simmer the ingredients in a pot
  3. Stir in the miso

Sources: maff.go.jp

This moment in the journey

Mettajiru, full of everything

The soup was mettajiru, a pork miso soup packed with ingredients: pork, konnyaku, leeks, carrots and shiitake. The essential ingredient is sweet potato.

I ladled it into a red bowl and poured non-alcoholic beer into a glass. Truly delicious on a cold night. The nodoguro, the rice, even Kanazawa's water: I could taste all their goodness. Very satisfied, and good night until tomorrow.

Watch this scene on YouTube12:43

Read this scene in the full journey

Pouring non-alcoholic beer beside mettajiru and the rice
Pouring non-alcoholic beer beside mettajiru and the rice
Mettajiru with konnyaku, leeks and sweet potato
Mettajiru with konnyaku, leeks and sweet potato
The red soup bowl in my hand
The red soup bowl in my hand
Soup bowl in hand, the can and glass behind
Soup bowl in hand, the can and glass behind
A piece of sweet potato on the chopsticks
A piece of sweet potato on the chopsticks
The dinner table seen past the kettle
The dinner table seen past the kettle
Nodoguro rice on the chopsticks
Nodoguro rice on the chopsticks
The bowl of nodoguro rice
The bowl of nodoguro rice