# リスナー情報コーナー(月) 集まれ！全国アレコレ物産展：石川県の伝統的な飴・俵屋「じろあめ」 - Show: ジェーン・スー　生活は踊る - Published: 2026-10-05 - Canonical: https://podc.club/en/episode/1630372322_ca6aecabaf83.html - Audio: https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/TBS7432281835.mp3 - Source: Edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. Not an official summary. On this episode of Jane Su: Seikatsu wa Odoru (ジェーン・スー 生活は踊る), the hosts tried jiroame — a traditional mizu-ame syrup made by Tawaraya (俵屋), a long-established shop in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture — live in the studio. Made from nothing but rice and barley with no sugar added, the pale amber syrup carries a gentle sweetness and a history stretching back to the famines of the Edo period. Listener Zawawako (ザワワコ) sent in the tip after a chance conversation on the Shinkansen pointed her toward the shop. ## What this episode answers ### What kind of food is jiroame and what is it made from? Jiroame is a thick, traditional mizu-ame syrup made from only rice and barley — no sugar — with a pale amber color very similar to honey. It comes in a 300g jar, is typically eaten slowly by winding it around chopsticks, and its richness means you simply cannot eat it all at once. ### What is the historical background behind Tawaraya's creation of jiroame? Tawaraya was originally a rice merchant (the shop name comes from tawara, meaning rice bale), and during a famine in the Edo period the founder created jiroame as a nutritious substitute for breast milk for nursing mothers who were unable to produce milk. ### Where does the name "jiroame" come from? The name derives from the Kanazawa dialect word "jirui," meaning "soft," which over time became "jiroame." ### What did jiroame taste and feel like when the studio tasted it? Wound around a spoon it stretches just like honey; despite containing no sugar it is distinctly sweet, described as a "gentle, rounded sweetness with no sharp edges," and it turned out to be firmer and less stretchy than expected — one host compared it to old-fashioned oblaat-wrapped sweets. ### Where can you buy jiroame, and how can it be used in cooking? Jiroame is sold through Tawaraya's online shop at ¥1,670 (tax included) for a 300g jar, and can replace sugar in a wide range of dishes including stir-fries, candied sweet potatoes, simmered Kaga lotus root, sweet-and-sour chicken nanban, and sweet-and-sour pork. ## Article ## A Tip from a Stranger on the Shinkansen Listener Zawawako discovered Tawaraya's jiroame during a trip to Ishikawa Prefecture. On the Shinkansen, the passenger sitting next to her happened to mention it: "If you're going to Kanazawa, you have to try this." Acting on that single word-of-mouth tip alone, she tracked down a jar and wrote in to the show. ## What Is Jiroame? Jiroame is a traditional mizu-ame (water candy) made by Tawaraya, a long-established confectionery in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. It contains no sugar whatsoever — only rice and barley — and has a thick, syrupy consistency and a pale amber color strikingly similar to honey. The 300g jar it comes in looks almost identical to a honey jar. The usual way to eat it is to wind it slowly around chopsticks or a spoon; its richness is such that you simply cannot gobble it down in one sitting, and that density is considered one of its charms. The name is rooted in local dialect. In Kanazawa, the word "jirui" means "soft," and over time the phrase evolved into "jiroame." ## Born from an Edo-Period Famine Tawaraya was originally a rice merchant — the shop name itself comes from tawara, the rice bales once used to store grain. During a famine in the Edo period, when food was desperately scarce, the founder thought of nursing mothers who could not produce breast milk and developed jiroame as a highly nutritious substitute. That act of compassion is said to be the very origin of the product. ## Tasting It in the Studio A jar was brought into the studio for a live tasting. When wound around a spoon, jiroame stretches in slow loops exactly like honey. In the mouth, it is unmistakably sweet despite containing no sugar — "a very gentle sweetness" and "a sweetness with no sharp edges" were the words used. It turned out to be firmer and less stretchy than anyone had anticipated, and one of the hosts likened it to "those old-fashioned sweets wrapped in oblaat," with the unusual stickiness drawing genuine laughs. The tasting was followed by a live demonstration of jiroame amazake made with sake lees: 100g sake lees, 300cc water, 80–100g jiroame, fresh ginger juice, and lemon juice to taste. The result was described as "somewhere between consommé, vichyssoise, and potage." Adding ginger and lemon made it a drink that warms the body from the inside out — though the strong sake-lees aroma means those who dislike alcohol should approach with care. ## Varieties and Uses in the Kitchen Jiroame comes in several varieties beyond the original: a plum-flavored version, a foam candy made using an extract of fresh green plums, and products called Amenco and Tawarako. Its culinary applications are equally wide-ranging. Tawaraya's website features recipes that swap out sugar for jiroame in dishes including simmered Kaga lotus root (kaga renkon no irimono), candied sweet potatoes (daigaku potato), sweet-and-sour chicken nanban (wakatori no nanban amazu), and sweet-and-sour pork (subuta). The studio tasting reinforced how remarkable it is to achieve that depth of sweetness with no sugar at all. Jiroame is available through Tawaraya's online shop. A 300g jar costs ¥1,670, tax included. ## Coming Up Next For four days starting October 19, the show will broadcast a special feature called "Seikatsu wa Onigiri de Odoru" (生活はおにぎりで踊る). Listeners across Japan are invited to share local onigiri stories — regional fillings, wrapping materials other than nori, onigiri tied to special occasions, and more. Listeners whose submissions are featured on air will receive a sticker. ## Takeaways - Jiroame is a traditional Kanazawa syrup made from only rice and barley — no sugar — yielding a gentle, honey-like sweetness that surprised everyone in the studio tasting. - It was created during an Edo-period famine by the founder of Tawaraya, a rice merchant, as a nutritious breast-milk substitute for nursing mothers who could not produce milk. - Available through Tawaraya's online shop at ¥1,670 for a 300g jar, jiroame can stand in for sugar across a wide variety of everyday dishes from candied sweet potatoes to sweet-and-sour pork.