Protected local food
Mito Burdock
美東ごぼう
A long burdock root from Mito in Mine, Yamaguchi, grown in clay-filled hollows of the Akiyoshidai limestone plateau. Fleshy to the tip, fine and tender.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 15 September 2017
- Region
- Chugoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 美東ごぼう
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 山口県美祢市美東町
Grown in limestone hollows
The fields lie in hollows worn into the limestone of Akiyoshidai, Japan's largest karst plateau, in Yamaguchi. Deep layers of clay have settled there, making the soil heavy and hard. Pushing through it, the burdock grows fine-grained and tender.
Cleaned with straw
Before shipping, growers gently rub off the mud with rice straw so the skin is not scratched, a local method called sunaderu used since the early Showa era. It keeps the burdock's aroma. The roots are long and fleshy right to the tip, and they fetch high prices.
How to eat it
Try kinpira gobo, burdock stir-fried with soy and sesame, burdock tempura, or burdock in miso soup.
Good to know
- Akiyoshidai and the Akiyoshido cave are a top sight in Yamaguchi. Mito is right next to them.
- Compare with Tsurajima Burdock from sandy soil in Okayama and Kikuchi Suiden Gobo from Kumamoto.
Questions travellers ask
What is gobo?
Burdock root, a long root vegetable used in Japanese stir-fries, soups and tempura.
Where is Mito?
Mito-cho in Mine city, Yamaguchi Prefecture, by the Akiyoshidai plateau.
Where it comes from
More protected foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.