Hōtō

Hoto is a noodle dish associated with Yamanashi Prefecture. Flour and water form a dough that is rolled out and cut into wide strips. These noodles simmer directly in a miso-seasoned soup with vegetables. Pumpkin, potatoes, daikon, carrot, Chinese cabbage and mushrooms are common ingredients, with fried tofu also included in regional recipes.^[1]

The flour on the noodles thickens the broth as they cook. Unlike noodles boiled separately, hoto becomes part of the soup's texture. Ingredients change with the season, and some versions include meat. In Yamanashi's mountainous areas, wheat foods served as alternatives to rice where rice cultivation was difficult. Hoto remains a household dish and a restaurant specialty, eaten year-round and particularly often in colder months.^[1]