Oct. 2007

No.59

LIVING GUIDE MORIOKA

MORIOKA INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ASSOCIATION〒 020-8531 MORIOKA-SHI WAKAZONO-CHO 2-18
TEL 019-626-7524

e-mail moriintl@nifty.com
http://www.e-morioka.com/~moriintl/top.html

Enjoy Your Fill of the Three Morioka Noodles
Have you tried the three famous and unique noodles of Morioka? They are well known to gourmets
who love noodles. Never heard of them? Then you should try! Compare the three diﬀerent kinds ofnoodles, or try just one of them in diﬀerent restaurants. Whichever you may do, youʼ ll ﬁnd a new
attractive taste of Morioka.

Wanko Soba ‒ Eating Frenzy!
Soba is buckwheat noodle. Wanko or wan is a small bowl in whichsoup or soba is served. Your server dumps one bite-sized portionof soba after another into your wanko , calling "Hi, Jan Jan." You willcompete against others by eating as many bowls of soba as you can.
Yes, this is an eating competition! When you feel full and cannot eat
any more, put the lid on your bowl as quickly as possible. Your serveris ready to put another portion into your bowl at any time. If you fail to
put the lid on your bowl, you have to continue to eat forever!
There are several stories about the origin of Wanko Soba . One of them says that someone who needed
to serve soba to a lot of guests at a time in a party served the noodle in small bowls. Another goes thatsomeone served soba in a bowl to the feudal lord.
Morioka hosts the All Japan Wanko Soba Championship every year. Contestants compete by eating
as many bowls of soba as they can within the time limit. The national record so far is 559 bowls! TheChampionship 2007 will take place at the main hall of Morioka Gekijo on Sunday, December 9.

Morioka Reimen ‒ Eat it again and you will love it more!
When reimen is served to you, you will ﬁnd thick semi-translucent noodles in your bowl. How dothey taste? Eating one bite, you will be surprised at the chewy texture of the noodles. "Itʼ s like rubber,"some say when they try reimen for the ﬁrst time. The texture of the noodles made from ﬂour and water,
however, will fascinate you. The cold and lush soup made from beef or chicken broth coats the noodle
pieces and goes well with other ingredients, such as hot spicy Korean pickles, cucumber, boiled egg andwater melon or other fruits.
It is said that Mr. Aoki, owner of a reimen restaurant in Odori Street called Shokudoen
created Morioka Reimen.
People eat reimen in Korean Peninsula, too. However, it is made from buckwheat andstarch, which makes the color and taste diﬀerent from those of Morioka Reimen .

Morioka Jajamen ‒ Youʼ ll never get tired of the attractive taste.
It is said that Mr. Takashina, owner of a Jajamen restaurant in Uchimaru called Pairon , madeJajamen for the ﬁ rst time in Morioka by remembering the noodle "jia jiang mein" he ate innortheastern China. Unlike other Japanese noodles, Jajamen is not served in soup. Boiled wheat
noodles come topped with thick meat sauce, cucumber, green onion and ginger. You can add,
if you like, hot pepper oil, vinegar and ground garlic and mix them with the noodles and sauce.
After ﬁnishing the noodles, try "Chi-tan-tan" ‒ mixture of the hot water in which the noodles wereboiled, meat sauce and beaten egg. You need to pay for Chi-tan-tan or Chi-tan
for short, but you cannot say, "Iʼ ve tried Jajamen " unless you eat the Chi-tansoup.
The meat sauce decides the taste of Morioka Jajamen. Diﬀerent restaurants
have diﬀerent sauces. Itʼ s fun to compare them.
Information on the Three Morioka Noodles above and restaurants that serve them isavailable at the website of the Morioka Tourism and Convention Association at:

http://www.odette.or.jp/citykankou/frame/frame.html

Asian Ethnic Costumes, Noodle Talk
and Morioka Junior High School Students in Victoria- 15th Anniversary of Morioka International Relations Association The Morioka International Relations Association celebrates the 15th anniversary this year. Comeand visit our commemoration event.
When: 13:00 - 15:30, Sunday, November 18
Where: Dai-Hall of Plaza Odette (1-1-10, Nakanohashi-dori, Morioka)

Part I

Asian Fashion Show 13:00 ‒ 14:10
Enjoy the Asian ethnic costumes and music show by students from Asian countries
studying at Iwate University.

Part II

Asian Noodle Culture in Morioka ‒ Talk Show - 14:20 ‒ 15:30
The three well-known Morioka noodles are featured above. We will talk "seriously"
about the roots of two of them, Morioka Reimen and Morioka Jajamen.

Part III Exhibit ‒ What Did Junior High School Students Find in Victoria?
Junior high school students from Morioka visit Victoria, which is the sister city ofMorioka, through an annual program of our association.
The history of the program will be shown with photos taken by the students andepisodes of what they saw and did during their stay in Victoria.
l Admission is free, but you need a numbered ticket for the event. Write down your name, address
and phone number (in Japanese only) on a double postal card and send it to the Morioka
International Relations Association at:〒 020-8531 盛岡市若園町 2-18 (Moriokashi Wakazonocho 2-18), phone:019-626-7524
Your postcard should arrive by Wednesday, October 31.