A Distinctive Garlic-Like Aroma and Flavor
As its name suggests, gyoja garlic has a strong, garlic-like aroma and rich flavor. Its distinctive character can be enjoyed in a variety of ways, including raw, or prepared as soy sauce pickles, blanched greens, and tempura.
Recommended Ways to Enjoy Gyoja Garlic
Marinating it in soy sauce creates a flavorful accompaniment to steamed rice, while deep-frying it as tempura adds a pleasant crispness and roasted aroma. It can also be simply blanched and served as an ohitashi, allowing its natural fragrance and flavor to take center stage.
Grown in the Asahi Area of Tsuruoka
In the Asahi area of Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture, efforts to cultivate gyoja garlic began more than 30 years ago. Local residents originally brought plants growing wild in the surrounding mountains back to their homes and began cultivating them.
Today, approximately 20 farming households in the area grow gyoja garlic, passing down the cultivation practices that have developed over the years.
A Slow-Growing Crop That Requires Patience and Care
Gyoja garlic is a slow-growing plant that is susceptible to insects and diseases, so producing it requires considerable time and effort. The plants must be carefully cultivated for many years before they are ready for harvest and shipment.
When the harvest season approaches, plants that have been dug up from the fields in autumn are moved into warm plastic greenhouses. By encouraging growth in the warmer environment, the plants can reach harvestable size in approximately two to four weeks.
In some cases, it takes around eight years from the beginning of cultivation until the plants are ready to be shipped. The long cultivation period makes gyoja garlic a particularly precious mountain vegetable, and it also makes the arrival of harvest and shipping season especially rewarding for growers.
A Seasonal Delicacy from Spring to Early Summer
The main season for gyoja garlic is April through June. In particular, during May and June, field-grown gyoja garlic becomes available, offering a particularly rich and aromatic flavor.
Peak Season
April, May, and June