Porridge - porridge

Japanese: 粥 - かゆ

Nowadays, porridge is a semi-liquid food with a lot of water, but in the past it meant the rice we have today. The Wakan Sansai Zue, compiled in 1712 (Shotoku 2), gives the interpretations jukusen (hard porridge), shirukayu (simmered porridge), and omoyu (rice porridge). In Fujii Takanao's Matsu no Ochiba, compiled in 1829 (Bunsei 12), it says, "There are many instances of porridge in old stories, so if you think of it as the porridge of today, you will be mistaken. (Omitted) Porridge is the rice of today. In the past, rice was steamed in a pot, and is what is called strong rice today." In "Thoughts on Rice Porridge" written in the late Edo period by Oyamada Tomokiyo, it is written that "Rice is the name for cooked grain, and porridge is the name for cooked grain."

The reason why people in the Kanto region have not liked porridge since ancient times is due to their eating habits, and it is thought that one reason is the time when rice is cooked. In the Kanto region, rice is cooked for breakfast, eaten as is for breakfast and lunch, and eaten as is or with ochazuke for dinner. In the Kansai region, the custom of cooking rice for lunch, eating it as is for lunch and dinner, and making porridge with leftover rice the next morning has long been practiced. In Okura Nagatsune's Kamado no Nigiwahi (The Lively Heart of the Cooking Pot) (1833), he writes, "In the Kanto region, very few people eat plain rice porridge, as it is considered tasteless. When you think about it, the way it is cooked in the Kinai region is very different. Plain rice porridge can be made delicious depending on how it is cooked, and it is very versatile. First, when cooking, you should wash the rice sooner than you would wash the rice you normally eat. When it is still white in the water, put it in a kettle, and add more water and cook. When it boils up and overflows, the lid ( If you cook with the lid all open, the porridge will lose its flavor, so do not remove the lid completely, but leave it aside a little and reduce the heat before cooking. At this point, scoop up two or three grains of rice with a ladle and pick them up with one finger. If it feels like it has a little core , pull out the firewood, leave it as it is while you smoke two or three puffs of tobacco, then lower the kettle and steam. Leave it to steam for another three puffs of tobacco, then serve it immediately from the kettle and eat it. Porridge that has been left in this way should have a sweet taste." The thinnest type is omoyu.

[Tetsunosuke Tada]

How to make porridge

After rinsing the rice, add 10 cups of water (for 50% rice porridge) to 1 cup of rice for 20 minutes, put in a pot and heat. Once it boils, reduce the heat and cook at the same temperature. If the rice boils over, move the lid aside, but do not remove the lid or add water. White porridge can be 30% rice porridge, 50% rice porridge, 70% rice porridge, or hard porridge. 30% rice porridge is made with 15 parts water or 20 parts water by volume for 1 part rice, 50% rice porridge is made with 10 parts water for 1 part rice, and 70% rice porridge is made with 1 part rice and 7 parts water. For potato porridge, peel sweet potatoes, cut them into small cubes, soak them in water, and add them to the white porridge before cooking. Taro, pumpkin, etc. can also be added. Nanakusa porridge, made on the 7th day of the New Year, contains the seven herbs of spring, but since the Edo period, it has often been made with just one type of shepherd's purse. Nowadays, Yomena is also commonly used.

[Tetsunosuke Tada]

Local cuisine porridge

Yamato porridge from Nara Prefecture is made with 1 part rice, 6 parts water, and tea in a bag. Morning porridge from Fukui Prefecture is freshly cooked porridge topped with kudzu paste and seasoned with soy sauce, sake, and bonito stock. Tea porridge is available in various places, but in Saga Prefecture, it is made with powdered tea as a summer dish. Tea porridge from Yamaguchi Prefecture is characterized by the ingredients used, which vary depending on the season. Shinmei porridge from Hiroshima Prefecture contains mochi (rice cake). In Chinese cuisine, porridge is the best rice dish, and depending on the region, it contains local specialties.

[Tetsunosuke Tada]

Folklore

Rice or millet is boiled with water. Originally, steamed rice was called ii (rice cake), which later came to be called kowameshi (hard rice), whereas soft boiled rice was called kayu (porridge). There are two types of kayu: katakayu (hard porridge) (described as "katakayu" in the mid-Heian period Wamyōshō) and shirukayu (soup porridge), the former of which corresponds to modern-day meshi (rice cake) and the latter to kayu (porridge). Today, kayu is considered food for the sick, infants, and women who have just given birth, but in folk culture it was used as a special meal on special occasions such as annual events and life ceremonies, and carries great significance.

In Gunma Prefecture and other areas, each household has their own "family custom" for the meals they eat during the first three days of the New Year, with various customs such as mochi (rice cake) households, noodle households, and potato households, but there are also households that follow the ancient custom of making rice porridge. This is plain rice porridge, but on January 7th, it is customary nationwide to make nanakusa-gayu (seven kinds of rice porridge). This is rice porridge cooked with the addition of several kinds of young leaves. On January 15th, it is also customary nationwide to cook and eat azuki bean porridge, and sometimes rice porridge chopsticks are inserted into the porridge to tell the fortune of the harvest based on how well the rice sticks, and in some places this is considered an ancient ritual at certain shrines. This is called kayu-ura or kayu-dameshi, and is a typical form of fortune-telling about the harvest at the beginning of the year. The taboo against this red bean porridge, "no matter how hot it is, you must never blow on it with your mouth," is evidence that the celebrations for Little New Year include prayers to ward off wind and flood damage. The making of Mikunichigayu for the harvest festival Mikunichi (the 39th day) in September and the making of Daishigayu for the Daishiko festival at the end of November are of the same nature, and in the Uonuma region of Niigata Prefecture, relatives and neighbors are invited to celebrate a new home and treated to Yautsurigyu (house-moving porridge). This is also seen as the prototype of the urban "moving soba."

[Tatsuo Hagiwara]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

現在、粥といえば水分の多い飯の意の半流動食であるが、古くは現在の飯の意であった。1712年（正徳2）成立の『和漢三才図会(わかんさんさいずえ)』には粥饘(じゅくせん)（かたかゆ）、粥（しるかゆ）、(い)（おもゆ）という解釈をしている。1829年（文政12）成立の藤井高尚の『松の落葉』に「昔の物語文にかゆといふ事あまた見えたるを、今の世の粥と思ひては事たがひぬべし、（中略）粥といふは今の飯なり、むかし飯(いひ)といへるは、こしきにて蒸したるものにて今の世にいはるる強飯(こはいひ)のことぞ」とある。江戸後期に著された小山田与清(おやまだともきよ)の『飯粥(いひがゆ)考』に「飯は炊穀の名、粥は烹穀(ほうこく)の名なり」とある。

　関東の人が昔から粥をあまり好まないのは食習慣によるのと、飯を炊く時間にも一因があるとみられる。関東は朝飯を炊き、朝と昼はそのまま用い、夜もそのままか茶漬けにして食べた。関西では昼に飯を炊き、昼、夜そのまま食べて、翌朝残飯を粥にする風習が長く行われていた。大蔵永常(おおくらながつね)の『竈(かまど)の賑(にぎは)ひ』（1833）には「関東にては白粥は味なきものとして食ふ人稀(ま)れなり。つらつら考へるに畿内(きない)辺の炊き方は大いに違へり。白粥は炊き方により美味にして勝手よきものなり。まづ、炊きやうはいつも食する飯の米を洗ふより早目に洗ふべし。まだ水に白色あるぐらゐにして釜(かま)に入れ、水加減して炊くなり。吹き上りこぼるるとて蓋(ふた)をみなあけ焚(た)けば、粥の味を失ふ故蓋を取りきらずに少しあけて火を減じ焚くべし。このとき米二、三粒を杓子(しゃくし)にてすくひとり指にてつまみみるに、少ししんのある位と思ふなるを薪(まき)を引きつくし、煙草(たばこ)二、三服のむ間、そのまま置き釜をおろし蒸すべし、又煙草三服ほどのむ間蒸し置き、釜よりすぐに盛りて食すべし。この如(ごと)くして置きたる粥は甘味ありてよろし」とある。中身のもっとも薄いのがおもゆである。

［多田鉄之助］

粥の作り方

米を洗い20分後に米1カップに対し水10カップ（五分粥の場合）を加え、鍋(なべ)に入れ火にかける。沸騰したら火を弱め、同じ温度で炊く。途中ふきこぼれるときは蓋をずらすが、蓋をとったり水をさしてはいけない。白粥は三分粥、五分粥、七分粥、固粥(かたかゆ)などがある。三分粥は容量比で米1に対し水15、または水20、五分粥は米1に対して水10、七分粥は米1に対して水7の割合でつくる。いも粥は、サツマイモの皮をむき、小さい角切りにして水にさらしてから白粥の中に加えて炊く。サトイモ、カボチャなどを加えてもよい。正月7日につくる七草(ななくさ)粥は春の七草を入れるが、江戸の昔からナズナ1種だけを用いることが多い。いまはこのほかヨメナもよく用いている。

［多田鉄之助］

郷土料理の粥

奈良県の大和(やまと)粥は米1に対して水6、茶を袋に入れて加えてつくる。福井県の朝粥は炊きたての粥の上に葛(くず)あんをかけたもの、しょうゆ、酒、かつおだしで調味する。茶粥は各地にあるが、佐賀県では夏料理として粉茶を用いている。山口県の茶粥は季節によって用いる材料が異なるのが特色。広島県のしんめい粥は餅(もち)が入る。中国料理では、粥は米料理の最高のもので、地方によりその地特産のものを入れる。

［多田鉄之助］

民俗

米や粟(あわ)などに水を加えて煮たもの。本来、米を蒸したのが飯(いい)であり、後世強飯(こわいい)（こわめし）とよばれるようになるのに対して、柔らかに煮たもののほうを粥といった。粥に堅粥(かたかゆ)（平安中期の『和名抄(わみょうしょう)』に「饘〈加太賀由〉」とある）と汁粥(しるかゆ)との2種があり、前者が現在の飯(めし)に、後者が粥に相当する。いま粥は、病人、幼児、産婦の食物とされているが、民俗のうえからは、年中行事、人生儀礼のおりおりにハレの日の食事として用いられ、重要な意味を含んでいる。

　群馬県などには正月三が日の食事を各家ごとの「家例」とし、餅(もち)家例、麺(めん)家例、芋家例など種々あるなかに、粥家例として古式を守る家もある。これは白粥であるが、1月7日には全国的に七草粥（七種(くさ)粥）をつくる風がある。数種の若菜を加えて炊いた粥である。1月15日には小豆(あずき)粥を炊いて食べる風も全国的であるが、これには粥箸(かゆばし)を入れて米の付きぐあいにより豊凶を占うことがあり、所により特定の神社の古式の神事とされている。これを粥占(かゆうら)、粥だめしなどとよび、年頭の豊凶占いの代表的なものである。この小豆粥について、「いくら熱くてもけっして口で吹いてはいけない」との禁忌が伴うのは、小正月(こしょうがつ)の予祝行事に風水害の除災の祈りが含まれている証拠である。9月の収穫祭であるミクニチ（三九日）にミクニチガユをつくり、11月末の大師講(だいしこう)にダイシガユをつくるのも同じ性格のものであり、新潟県魚沼(うおぬま)地方には新築の祝いのとき、親戚(しんせき)や近隣を呼んでヤウツリガユ（家移り粥）をふるまう。これなどは、都会の「引っ越しそば」の原型ともみられるものである。

［萩原龍夫］

[参照項目] | 小豆粥 | いも粥 | 粥占 | しんめい粥 | 茶粥 | 七草

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