Feel Moved by the Blessings of Nature! 4 Famous Dishes from Yamanashi

Hoto

Hoto is truly one of the most representative dishes of Yamanashi. Wide wheat noodles, plenty of seasonal vegetables, meat such as chicken, and broth made with miso are all stewed together in this dish. The most well-known vegetable usually used in this dish is pumpkin, but other vegetables like carrots, mushrooms, leafy greens, and green onions are popular as well.
It\'s voluminous and nutritious. It\'s seasoned simply, and is a local dish that will warm you heart and soul.
Some restaurants offer a summer version of hoto where they add chilled noodles to the warm broth filled with vegetables, so please check it out.

Kofu Torimotsuni

Kofu torimotsuni is a local dish from the city of Kofu.
The main ingredient is offal ("motsu") from chickens, especially the gizzards, heart, liver, and immature eggs. Sugar and soy sauce are added and stewed until it\'s sweet and spicy. This dish was created around 1950 by a soba (buckwheat noodles) restaurant in Kofu. It attracted so much praise that it gradually spread throughout the region. The rich, deep flavor goes perfectly with liquor, rice, and soba.
This popular dish has taken 1st place countless times at the famous B-1 Grand Prix, a competition that takes place nationwide to choose the best local cheap yet delicious dishes in the area.

Koshu Wine

Yamanashi is a basin surrounded by mountains, so it has a climate that\'s perfect for growing grapes for wine. Koshu wine takes advantage of that environment and is famous nationally. Koshu grapes are refreshing and have the perfect amount of acidity for a high class flavor. It goes very well with traditional Japanese food, and is casual enough to be a daily table wine, so it\'s very popular with a wide amount of people.
This is a type of wine that has won countless Japanese wine contests and hopefully will go on to represent Japan on the international stage.
Because they cultivate a variety of grapes, there are different kinds of Koshu wine, from deep red wine to sparkling wine. There are many vineyards within Yamanashi, so please enjoy wine tasting, a vineyard tour, and shopping.

Yoshida no Udon

This is a regional dish that came from the city of Fujiyoshida. The noodles are fatter and springier than those used in regular udon.
The two most popular ways to eat it is to boil the noodles and add them to miso, soy sauce, and dashi broth to create kakeudon, or to chill them with a cold broth and have it as hiyashi udon. Some common toppings are sweet-spicy stewed horse meat or boiled cabbage. The condiment made with chili as a base adds a delicious accent to the dish.
The area around the base of Mt. Fuji uses delicious water to create noodles that taste amazing, so please try it.

All of these dishes and drinks can be tried in restaurants around Kofu Station. Kofu is only about an hour and a half away from Tokyo, so please stop by to check it and these dishes out!