Hands-On Cooking Experiences

A must-try local dish is hatto: soft, chewy noodles simmered with vegetables in a soy sauce-seasoned broth or boiled and served with toppings like sweet azuki red beans and mashed edamame beans. Hatto is made by kneading wheat flour with water, letting the dough rest, then rolling it out into a thin layer. The dough is then ripped into noodle-like pieces and boiled. In Tome, hatto is a firmly established standard of home cooking, and every household has its own preferred way of preparing the dish.

There is an interesting story behind the name of the dish, which literally means “prohibition.” During the Edo period (1603–1867), daimyo lords required local farmers to cultivate rice, which served as the basis of taxation. However, they had to rely on other grains, such as wheat, for their own sustenance. Using wheat, the farmers created hatto—a dish so tasty the ruling class reportedly feared it might distract the farmers from rice production. As a result, consumption of the dish was restricted to special occasions, giving rise to its unusual name.

Shokuno Taiken Network Tome Council, a council comprised of multiple organizations that supports community-based tourism, offers hatto cooking classes suitable for both adults and children. The friendly instructors use local ingredients. Other workshops using local ingredients are also available, including classes for making sausage, pizza, nikuman (pork-filled buns) and sweets.