IMONI, in Yamagata
Every autumn, particularly between late September and early October, the locals of Yamagata get together and head down to parks dotted throughout the prefecture to hold Imoni parties. It’s a fun custom that I attended every year, during my three years living out in the countryside on Shonai plain, where dozens of mutual friends would congregate by the riverbank and bowl a pot of the delicious stew.
Imoni is a type of thick potato stew, served with chopped meat (typically pork or beef), along with mushroom, carrots and tofu. In Sakata I was invited by a group of people preparing Imoni on a charcoal fire, in front of the Mogami river. In the Shonai area, Imoni usually has a soy sauce based (other parts of Yamagata favour miso).
The warm salty taste of the stew made it an ideal autumn season dish; the potatoes were soft, the pork lean, and the mushrooms and carrots help give the light salty soy sauce broth a greater variety of flavours.
I really recommend this dish for a chilly sunny day during fall, as the cool breeze blows in from the sea of Japan. Imoni parties are’t just about the delicious stew, but getting together with friends and family and enjoying the changing of the season together.
If you want to experience the wonderful taste of the imoni you can go to the famous Imoni Party Festival held on the first Sunday of September each year in Yamagata city. The festival is considered to be the opening ceremony for the autumn imoni season, where a giant stew is cooked for about 30,000 people in a pot 6 meters height on an industrial scale.
WHERE: Imoni parties happen throughout Yamagata, usually amongst groups of friends. If you want to take part, I’d recommend contacting a local international centre in the town you’re visiting and see if there are any planned Imoni events or attending the event in Yamagata city.
