The word “jidori” in Japanese means free-range chicken produced locally in every area of Japan.
It’s an old-fashioned name and it seems that the local chicken is a really traditional strain that is kept in a restricted area for a long time.
therefore, Japanese restaurant owners and farmers want to call it jidori for much more profit.
However, you know that not of all the jidori brands that are advertised in Japan are really traditional strains with a delicious taste.
Actually, part of the strain was generated recently from the progeny strain of various local chickens from various regions of Japan, furthermore,
sometimes bred with Korean or Chinese strains.
Here I will write about Aizu Jidori, which is one of the most famous and traditional jidori in the northern part of Japan.
The Aizu area is very famous for being the place where the Heike family and their followers who occupied the western half of Japan for 200 years and lost it in the samurai conflict throughout the country in the 12th century.
Aizu jidori are orally traditional chickens brought by the Heike family from the capital city of Kyoto to Aizu in that period and are said to have been passed down until now.
But in the literature, the first description about Aizu jidori is found in a reference written in the 1570s.
It is written in the reference that Aizu jidori feathers are a very important decoration of the garments used in the spring festival “Aizu Higan-jishi Festival” in Aizu area.
Yes, you can enjoy that traditional festival in March, and you can confirm that many beautiful Aizu jidori feathers are used in the traditional costumes of the dancers.
This is the reason why we believe that Aizu jidori is a truly traditional local chicken, with at least 400 years of history, and can inherit an ancient flavor for 800 years.
To be honest, when its value was recognized and this Aizu jidori was investigated in 1987, there were only a few birds on a few small farms.
So, researchers at the Fukushima prefectural chicken breeding centers intensively dealt with the expansion of the number of Aizu jidori for 10 years,
And thanks to them, we can now enjoy the taste of Aizu jidori in many restaurants.
You suspect that those chickens raised on some farms were actually the direct progeny of Aizu jidori, right?
Do not worry about it.
There is another famous jidori on the south side of Japan, Satsuma jidori, and the genomic DNA of both strains was sequenced and compared with each other, and they were shown to be quite different ancestor chickens from the ones they were derived from.
Yes, we Japanese are somewhat paranoid about tradition or purity of blood, probably because we prioritize family over individuals;).
Now these Aizu jidori are kept in large breeding farms in the Aizu countryside, just like in the hills and fields in ancient times, lots of natural exercise, proper time for sunbathing, natural food, and may not have stress .
Thanks to farmers’ efforts to keep Aizu jidori organic, we can enjoy Aizu jidori with a taste almost equal to or better than 400 years ago.
In Aizu’s most famous jidori production center, Mishima city, jidori farmers ship chickens within 120 days with a delay of a few days.
One hundred and 20 days is two times longer than the broiler feeding time that is generally maintained until dispatch.
There’s a reason why, because the balance of glutamic acid and inosinic acid in chicken meat is best at 110-130 days of age.
Glutamic acid and inosinic acid are known to affect the flavor of meat synergistically better if those amino acids are included rich in the meat in good balance, and the Fukushima Chicken Breeding Center clarified the development time of the best balance ratio in 110-130 days. .
Unlike broilers kept in small cages for 60 days without exercise, Aizu jidori grows in a large field with natural exercise and organic food in the sun.
Such a rearing style presents you with the best toughness and good smell of chicken meat when you put them in your mouth at Aizu jidori restaurants.
Tasteful and good looking with a beautiful feather color, Aizu jidori is one of the best chickens you can find in Japan. I am very grateful to the staff at the Fukushima Chicken Breeding Centers.
prefecture!
