Kumagawa waste

About Kumagawa waste

As for Kumagawa kuzu, kudzu from Kumagawa has become so popular that the Confucian scholar Rai Sanyo from the Edo period commented in a letter that “Kumagawa is more elegant than Yoshino, and there are many merits of cooking.”
The raw material for Kumagawa waste is kudzu, which grows naturally in the upper reaches of the Kitagawa River flowing into Wakasa Bay. This area is a soil suitable for growing kudzu roots, and good quality kudzu roots with high starch purity can be obtained.
In order to prevent starch from fermenting, cold underground water from Tanigawa is used to refine it using a manufacturing method called “cold exposure,” but this process is performed by hand during the cold season from November to March, and repeated exposure to a clear stream results in pure white and pure kudzu.
Along with “Yoshino kudzu” and “Akizuki kudzu,” it is said to be one of Japan's top three kudzu.
With its mellow mouthfeel and elegant flavor, “kuzu manju,” which uses Kumagawa wasu, has become a summer tradition.

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