Nishi Warabi

"Nishi Warabi" is a warabi (bracken) ⁽¹⁾ that is characterized by thick and long shoots and is also deeply rooted in the local food culture.
　The shoots are soft when boiled. Having abundant umami content, minimal astringency, and a small amount of stiff fibers, the bracken is traded at a higher price than bracken from other producing areas. The rhizome is also used for making "warabi mochi", a specialty of the area.

The "young warabi shoots" known as "Nishi Warabi" are harvested from bracken plants that either naturally grow in Nishiwaga Town or have been transplanted and cultivated there and that satisfy the standards specified by the Nishiwaga Warabi Seisan Hanbai Network（Nishiwaga Warabi Production and Sales Network (hereinafter referred to as the "Network"). The "warabi rhizome" known as "Nishi Warabi" comes from bracken plants that naturally grow in Nishiwaga Town or have been transplanted and cultured.
　The boiled warabi shoots should satisfy the standards specified by the Network.

Bracken plants have grown naturally in Nishiwaga Town, in the western part of Iwate Prefecture, since old times. For its excellent texture and taste, the bracken became popular in Iwate Prefecture and came to be called Nishi Warabi with different characteristics from that harvested in other areas.
　Warabi shoots as preserved food were indispensable for people to survive winter in Nishiwaga Town, which was frequently hit by the cold weather. The food culture of safeguarding and carefully using large quantities of salted bracken has taken root since ancient times.
　To pass the traditional food culture to future generations and utilize abundant wild vegetable resources, Nishiwaga Agricultural Cooperative built a plant for processing wild vegetables and started making boiled warabi shoots in 1971. By adopting the trade name of Nishi Warabi, it has been distinguished from other boiled bracken shoots and traded at high prices.
　In 2008, the Network was established by the producers, collectors, processors, local government, etc., and has worked on improving cultivation technologies, increasing production, and strengthening the brand.
　During the season when warabi shoots emerge, Nishiwaga Town becomes crowded by many visitors from various places in and outside Iwate Prefecture in search of Nishi Warabi, and the scenery is a symbol of spring.

1. Warabi (bracken) is a wild vegetable that grows in colonies on plains, valleys, and fields that are open and sunny. The young shoots that emerge from spring to summer are widely eaten in Japan, China, and the Korean Peninsula. Starch collected from the rhizome is used as "warabi ko (warabi flour)". It is regarded as a precious article because only a tiny amount can be obtained, and it requires much labor in its production.