Protected local food
Tsurajima Burdock
連島ごぼう
Burdock root (gobo) from Kurashiki in Okayama, grown in river sand. White-skinned, tender and sweet, and sold washed and ready to cook.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 7 December 2016
- Region
- Chugoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 連島ごぼう
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 岡山県倉敷市（水島地域並びに倉敷地域のうち西阿知及び大高）
Grown in river sand
The fields around Mizushima in Kurashiki, Okayama, are built on sand left by the Takahashi River. There is plenty of water flowing under the ground, so the roots never go thirsty. Few burdock areas in Japan grow on sand like this.
White, soft and sweet
Burdock is usually brown, earthy and fibrous. Tsurajima gobo has white skin, little bitterness and soft, sweet flesh that is not stringy. It is sold washed and ready to cook, and the area is the largest producer of washed burdock in western Japan's Chugoku and Shikoku regions.
How to eat it
Try kinpira gobo, burdock strips stir-fried with soy and sesame, or crisp burdock tempura. It also adds depth to miso soup.
Good to know
- Kurashiki's canal-side Bikan historical quarter is a short trip from the growing area. Local restaurants use the burdock in set meals.
- Burdock is common in Japanese home cooking. If you see gobo on a menu, it is worth ordering.
Questions travellers ask
What is gobo?
Burdock root, a long, thin root vegetable. Japanese cooks use it in stir-fries, soups and tempura.
Where is Tsurajima Gobo grown?
In Kurashiki city, Okayama Prefecture, mostly in the Mizushima area.
Where it comes from
More protected foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
- Fukiya: the birthplace of Japan Red
- Japan's old schools: where a nation learned to read
- Kitamaebune: the merchant ships that made Japan's port towns rich
- Kurashiki: a textile town that grew from one cotton flower
- Okayama, where the Momotaro legend was born
- The Six Ancient Kilns: pottery born and raised in Japan
- The stone islands of the Seto Inland Sea
- Wakanoura: a bay of views that inspired poets
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.