Protected local food
Tsunan Snow-Aged Carrots
津南の雪下にんじん
Carrots left in the ground under deep snow for three months or more in Tsunan, Niigata, then dug out by hand. Mildly sweet, savoury and fragrant.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 14 June 2019
- Region
- Chubu
- Official name in Japanese
- 津南の雪下にんじん
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 新潟県中魚沼郡津南町
Three months under snow
Tsunan in Niigata is one of the snowiest places in Japan. Farmers leave their carrots in the ground from early winter to spring, under deep snow for three months or more. In spring they clear the snow from the fields and dig the carrots by hand.
Sweeter, milder, fragrant
Under the snow the carrots build up amino acids such as asparagine, which give sweetness and umami, and caryophyllene, an aroma compound. They taste mild and sweet with a pleasant scent, and they sell for high prices.
How to eat it
Eat them raw as sticks, juice them, or roast them. Local shops sell snow-carrot juice and sweets.
Good to know
- Snow carrots come out in spring, usually around March to April. Look for juice at Niigata station shops.
- In Niigata, also try Kurosaki Chamame edamame in summer.
Questions travellers ask
Why grow carrots under snow?
The snow protects them, and over the winter they become sweeter and more fragrant.
Where is Tsunan?
A town in southern Niigata Prefecture, one of Japan's heaviest snow areas.
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.