by Kazu
Why do the citizens of Utashinai City love the boiled intestine of horses?
This is "Nanko Rice Bowl" made of fried horse intestine flavored with onion, fish broth, soy-sauce, scrambled egg and topped with sliced leek.
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This is "Nanko curry with rice. The spices of curry takes the smell of the intestine and the feeling of the slices of intestine gives the new twist to the curry.
Fermented soy-beans paste "Miso"-based egg noodle soup topped with boiled "nanko" is popular menu in the restaurant of the roadside station.
"Nanko" soup lunch set has the traditional flavor of "miso". Then why is these cuisine called "nanko" and why have the citizens eaten the intestine of horses ?
In the galleries or tunnels of coalmines in Hokkaido, the horses carried the cart of coal. Under the conditions of darkness and dusty air, the life expectancy of horses in the coalmine were very short. So many horses died in the tunnel or galleries of coalmines. Needless to say, the citizens made the most of the bodies
of horses but their love to the horses as the colleague in the coalmine was so strong. They never said to eat the meat of horses.
In the oriental philosophy including yin & yang, "the direction of horse" means south. Nan or minami means south in Japanese. Have you got it? Yes, "nan-ko" means the blessing from south, the direction of horse.
The coalmine industry in Japan including Hokkaido collapsed and no more horses are used in coalmines. But the cuisine is still loved by the citizens of coalmine area. The intestine is imported from Australia now. To take off the smell of the intestine, the chef of the restaurant boil it with miso, ginger and leek for 8 hours and let it sleep for a night. The coalmine workers loved the meals and the current citizens of coalmine area have loved for years. Australian people knows about it?
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