Part 6 of the series: Satoyama Concept in Fukui
The town of
Wakasa in Fukui Prefecture is famous for its production of plums. In fact,
plums are particularly mentioned by the town in their case study for the Satoyama
Initiative. The local variety of
plum, known as the Fukui Plum (福井梅 / Fukui-ume), is characterised by its thick flesh and small pit. The most common way to consume the plums is
by pickling them to make umeboshi which
is then served with rice. To make umeboshi, the plums are salted, then
dried in the sun before putting them into brine.
In the gift
shop of Hotel Suigekka, I discovered that a clever entrepreneur had developed
ice cream using the plums. The mild
tasting ice cream is served inside a wafer (もなか / monaka). This is an adaptation of the traditional
Japanese treat monaka (最中)
which is a wafer filled with sweet adzuki bean, black sesame seed, or chestnut
jam.
It is well
worth giving this delicious ice cream a try when visiting Fukui. Within Japan, the ice cream can also be
ordered via Shokokai
(JP), Amazon
(JP/EN), or Rakuten
(JP/EN). Another unique product they
produce is lotus soft ice cream (はすソフトクリーム), as can be
seen here.
Manufacturer:
こう太郎のアイス屋さん
Address: 〒919-0225 福井県南条郡南越前町東谷6-85
6-86
Higashidani, Minami-Echizen-chō, Nanjō-gun, Fukui-ken
Tel.:
0778-47-2357