Episode 40: Local Cuisine Using Konjac [Kansai Edition] Nara-ae / Nara

Episode 40: Local Cuisine Using Konjac [Kansai Edition] Nara-ae / Nara Part 2

This time, I'll introduce another local dish from Nara that uses konjac.

Upon researching, I came across something called "Nara-ae."
Nara-ae appears to be a local dish that uses Nara pickles, a specialty product of Nara.

I looked into its origins in detail.
Nara-ae is said to have originated as a dish prepared as a last-minute hospitality meal at a Buddhist temple, made by mixing readily available ingredients with Nara pickles.
Narae, made by seasoning preserved dried foods with carrots, konjac, and thinly fried tofu, and then mixing them with Nara pickles, is now enjoyed daily at home.
Nara pickles, a local specialty, are a food with a long history, as evidenced by the fact that the terms "kasuzuke melon" and "kasunasu" appear in Heian period texts.
It is said that the origin of this product dates back to the early Edo period, when a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner in Nara began selling white cucumbers pickled in sake lees near the gate of a temple.
Later, it became popular through presentations to the shogunate and visits to Nara, and pickled vegetables and fruits in sake lees came to be called "Nara pickles."

Nara-ae is still commonly made at home today and passed down from parent to child.
It's served as part of school lunches and seems to be a popular dish even among children who don't like Nara pickles.

Nara-ae
https://www.maff.go.jp/j/keikaku/syokubunka/k_ryouri/search_menu/menu/naraae_nara.html
Nara Prefecture local cuisine
http://www.pref.nara.jp/secure/118270/narabonnti.pdf

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries website
https://www.maff.go.jp/j/keikaku/syokubunka/k_ryouri/search_menu/menu/naraae_nara.html