Akita Hunter's Pot · Pounded Rice Skewers
Kiritanpo Nabe
🍲
Photo coming soon
The rice isn't served as-is — it's pounded into a paste, molded around a cedar skewer and toasted over an open fire before it ever touches the hot pot.
Cooked rice is pounded until half-mashed, formed into cylinders around cedar skewers and lightly toasted, then sliced into chunks and simmered in a hot pot with local free-range chicken (hinai-jidori), burdock root, mushrooms and scallion in a soy-based broth.
Why it's made this way: The dish originated with Akita's mountain woodcutters and hunters, who reportedly grilled leftover rice on skewers over their campfires; it's now Akita Prefecture's signature winter hot pot, served city-wide once the weather turns cold.
More from Japan
Ramune
Takoyaki (Octopus Balls)
Yakitori (Skewered Chicken)
Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き)
Taiyaki (たい焼き)
Sapporo Miso Ramen
Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below.
Photo credits.