If you chop it, you can return home. A letter about 'Dashi' from Yamagata, Tohoku.

To you, who are leaving Yamagata this spring.

I'm sure your moving boxes are packed with pots and pans.
But what you really should take with you might be the rhythm of a knife.

A local dish that sustains the summer dining table in Yamagata—Dashi.
No heat required.
Just chop.
And yet, it is incredibly delicious.

Vegetables that survive the heavy snowy winter and ripen all at once in the short summer.
Cucumber, eggplant, myoga ginger, and shiso leaves.
Finely chop them and mix with soy sauce.
Just that, and you won't be able to stop eating rice.

It's not flashy.
But it will definitely capture your appetite.



■ Basic 'Dashi' recipe for one person (2-3 days' worth)

【Ingredients】
• Cucumber ... 1
• Eggplant ... 1
• Myoga ginger ... 1
• Shiso leaves ... 3
• Shiro-dashi (or soy sauce) ... 1-2 tablespoons
• Ginger (tube paste is fine) ... a little

※ You can add okra or natto. But start with the 'classic' version.



■ How to make

① Chop everything very finely.
Smaller than 5mm cubes. This is the key.

② Soak the eggplant in water to remove the bitterness (5 minutes).

③ Mix everything in a bowl and drizzle with shiro-dashi.

④ Let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Done.



■ There are endless ways to eat it.
• Heap it onto freshly cooked rice.
• Pile it high on chilled tofu.
• Mix it into somen noodles.
• Mix it with natto.
• Toss it with pasta (it surprisingly goes well).

On busy mornings or when you're hungry late at night,
if you have it chopped, it will save you.



■ Why is Dashi so delicious?

The answer is simple.
Because it's fresh. Because it's fine. Because it's cold.

By chopping it finely, the aroma of the vegetables is released all at once.
By chilling it, the salty flavor tightens.

It is the height of rationality.

But there is one more reason.

Dashi is a dish that doesn't add anything.
No meat or oil needed.
Trust in the power of the ingredients.

That is similar to the temperament of the people of Yamagata.
They don't talk much.
But they have a strong core.



■ To you, who are leaving Yamagata

In the city, there is a lot of stimulation.
Trends, competition, information—everything is fast.

But you don't need to rush.

The 5 minutes to chop the cucumber.
The 5 minutes to soak the eggplant in water.
The 30 minutes waiting in the refrigerator.

That time will settle your heart.

Your hometown won't offer flashy support.
But it will quietly sustain you.

When you put Dashi on a bowl of rice,
you are connected to Yamagata.



The taste of home is in your refrigerator.

When you're tired, chop.
When you're lost, mix.
Simplicity is strength.