At the Ogama, the main source of Nozawa Onsen, water close to 90 degrees wells up, and locals have long boiled mountain vegetables and eggs in it. The Ogama itself is closed to non-residents, but there are several spots in the village where visitors can boil eggs. Just keep to the time, and the whites set to a trembling softness.
Ingredients
- Eggs
How I made it
- Put the eggs in a bamboo basket and lower it into the hot spring
- Wait, keeping strictly to the time
- Lift out the basket and peel the eggs
Sources: go-nagano.net nozawakanko.jp
This moment in the journey
Onsen tamago and corn
On a blue plate: steaming corn and a sasa-dango dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves. The corn and the dumpling had been boiled fresh by the shopkeeper who sold them. And then the classic, onsen tamago. All I had done was keep to the time, yet when I peeled the shell the white quivered like jelly.
The yolk was soft and runny. It was a cold morning, but with every steaming bite the chill slipped away. I sat on a bench under the little shelter and ate breakfast looking out over the rooftops of the town.
Watch this scene on YouTube1:06
More notes from this journey
Nozawaonsen, Nagano
Rice bowl with stir-fried nozawana, fried tofu and onsen tamago
Nozawana is said to descend from Tennoji turnip seeds that the priest of Kenmei-ji temple in Nozawa Onsen brought back from Kyoto in 1756.
From: Boiling breakfast in a hot spring: life in Nozawa
Nozawaonsen, Nagano
The Ogama hot-spring source
One of the springs that feed Nozawa Onsen, with water close to 90 degrees.
From: Boiling breakfast in a hot spring: life in Nozawa
Nozawaonsen, Nagano
The Oyu and the 13 sotoyu bathhouses
Nozawa Onsen has 13 sotoyu, communal bathhouses, kept up by villagers through a system called yunakama.
From: Boiling breakfast in a hot spring: life in Nozawa
Nozawaonsen, Nagano
The village with onsen in its name
Nozawaonsen, in Shimotakai District, Nagano, is the only village in Japan with onsen in its name.
From: Boiling breakfast in a hot spring: life in Nozawa
Nozawaonsen, Nagano
Freshly boiled corn and sasa-dango
Eaten with the onsen tamago beside the Ogama.
From: Boiling breakfast in a hot spring: life in Nozawa
Nozawaonsen, Nagano
Oyaki of Shinshu
One of Nagano's best-known regional foods: a wheat-flour dough wrapped around nozawana, seasonal vegetables or sweet bean paste, then baked or steamed.
From: Boiling breakfast in a hot spring: life in Nozawa
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Jibuni
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From: Winter in Kanazawa, from a townhouse kitchen
Kanazawa, Ishikawa
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From: Winter in Kanazawa, from a townhouse kitchen
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From: Winter in Kanazawa, from a townhouse kitchen
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Rice-flour oyaki with nozawana
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