A regional nabemono of Yamanashi Prefecture: flat, wide wheat-flour noodles simmered with pumpkin, root vegetables, and sometimes pork in a rich miso-based broth. Attributed to the warlord Takeda Shingen, who is said to have nourished his troops with it; a dish of mountain farming villages.
Hoto is a nabemono dish from Yamanashi Prefecture, in the Shinshu region of central Japan. Wikipedia documents the attribution to the Sengoku-period warlord Takeda Shingen, who is said to have served hoto to his troops — though this is legend rather than documented record. The dish consists of flat, wide wheat-flour noodles — cut by hand, wider and flatter than udon — simmered with kabocha pumpkin, daikon, carrot, taro, and sometimes pork in a miso-based broth. It belongs to the peasant cuisine of mountain villages where rice was scarce and wheat and squash were staples.
A bowl of hoto brings up wide, flat noodles in a thick, cloudy, deeply savory miso broth, packed with chunks of pumpkin that have partially dissolved into the soup, making it thick and sweet. The noodles are softer and chewier than udon; the vegetables are meltingly tender. Eaten steaming hot, it is the most comforting winter dish of Yamanashi.
Hoto rests on the wide flat noodles and the pumpkin-thickened miso broth. The noodles — made from wheat flour and water, kneaded, then cut wide and flat — are cooked directly in the broth rather than separately, so their surface starch leaches into the liquid, thickening it. Kabocha pumpkin, simmered until partially disintegrating, contributes both sweetness (from its natural sugars) and body (from its dissolved starches) to the broth. The miso, added at the end, provides the fermented umami base. The result is a thick, almost stew-like consistency that is heartier than a typical udon bowl.
Variations
Some versions add pork, chicken, or wild mushrooms; the wide flat noodles, pumpkin, and miso broth are the Yamanashi constants.
On the Palate
Where Hoto sits in the Japanese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
6 steps · 25 min
- 110 min
Make a dough of wheat flour and water; knead, roll thin, and cut into wide flat noodles.
- 220 min
Simmer dashi with kabocha pumpkin, daikon, carrot, and taro until vegetables are tender.
Watch outSimmer the kabocha until it partly falls apart — that dissolving pumpkin is what sweetens and thickens the broth to its stew-like body.
- 315 min
Add the hoto noodles to the pot; simmer until cooked through.
- 43 min
Dissolve miso in a ladle of broth; stir into the pot.
Watch outDissolve the miso in a ladle of broth before stirring it in — drop it in the pot whole and it clumps and won't spread evenly.
- 55 min
Simmer a few more minutes until the broth thickens.
- 65 min
Serve hot in large bowls.
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