On 12 January, the 'Castle Town Shibata National Zoni Battle' was held at the Shinbata City Culture Centre. This is an event where creative and elaborate zoni from all over the country gather to compete to be the best in Japan. This event, which has become increasingly well-known in Niigata over the years, was held for the 10th time this year.

Participants vote with coins to determine the conqueror of the year.

Unfortunately, it snowed heavily several times that day. A friend from university had come to visit from Akita, so the two of us took part in the Zoni Kassen for the first time. We parked our car in a temporary parking lot and took a shuttle bus to the venue.

I arrived at the venue at around 11:00. I had heard it was a 'culture centre', so I thought, 'inside the building?' I thought it might be inside the building, but it was an outside venue! The pitch conditions were terrible due to the hard-packed snow and puddles of water. Despite this, there was a large crowd. Around 20,000 people attended the event.

The venue is lined with tents! The variety of creative zoni and the call-outs make it hard to decide which one to choose. At any rate, I circled the venue and chose the first zoni.

The first drink is the Kamo Chamber of Commerce and Industry Youth Club's 'Special! Zoni with Kamo soup". And the 'Special Zoni with Zuwai Crab and Clam Dashi' by the Castle Town Shibata Mochi Association, which was chosen as the 4th Seiyo Shogun.

duck soup soup

Specially made! Kamojiru Zoni is like an old-fashioned Zoni, full of finely chopped vegetables. A nostalgic taste of the old days.

Special zoni with snow crab and clam soup

Special zoni with zuwai crab and clam broth is filled with carefully selected ingredients. The salmon roe and zuwai crab were gorgeous and had a refined flavour.

The second bowl is the 'Mochi Ten Zoni' by Sobaya Den-emon from Yamagata Prefecture, a participant from Yamagata Prefecture who is currently the consecutive winner of the Grand Prix at the Yonezawa B-Grade Gourmet festival. And the 'Shin-Obashira no Blessing Zoni' by the Shimosuwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry Youth Club, a participation from Nagano Prefecture, which won the first Seibi Daishogun award.

glutinous rice with sweetened beans (eaten on New Year's Eve and drunk on New Year's Day)

Mochi tenzou-ni is an excellent combination of tempura-style mochi, green laver and broth! Yamagata mushrooms also taste great.

True Gobashira's Blessing Zoni

The blessing zoni of the true gopura is a powerful chikwawa that resembles a gopura. The sweetness of the sakura shrimps was an accent.

The third cup is Shibata Zoni 'Gokumi' from (Owned) Uokiku in Shinbata. And 'Echigo-Murakami Ore no Touton Beef Zoni' from the Murakami Chamber of Commerce and Industry Youth Club, which was awarded the 6th, 7th and 8th Seiyo Taisen.

Shibata Zoni 'Extreme'.

The extreme is the parent-and-child presentation of salmon roe and salted salmon, as well as the tsukune and other ingredients, which are quite sumptuous. You might be tempted to think, "Isn't it unprofitable?" I thought it would be unprofitable.

Image credit: From the Zoni Kassen facebook page.

My Fighting Beef Zoni is a spicy broth variant. The Murami beef was a meat dumpling like a hamburger. No way I forgot to take a photo ...

And I'm full after three cups. The rice cakes are quite filling. In the hall of the culture centre, which was opened as a space for eating and drinking, there were live performances, a signboard girl contest and other stage events. Asparago-kun, Shibata's yurukyara character, also enlivened the event.

A long queue formed at the tent for the Sweet Parfait Zoni from Pasticceria Dolce in Shingata.

Image credit: From the Zoni Kassen facebook page.

Dessert zoni with millefeuille, petit puffs and crepes! The result is lovely to look at.

I wondered if it was good, but I was surprised to find that it was highly rated on Facebook. I wondered, but was surprised by the high evaluation of those who ate it on Facebook. Zoni is a sweet, anything is possible~.

Now, for the important vote, I went for the last one, Shibata Zoni 'Gokumi'. Because they used luxurious ingredients! No doubt about it! I thought so, but the result was "runner-up".

Image credit: From the Zoni Kassen facebook page.

The other runner-up was Sato Foods' 'Aburi-Pork Rolled Chicken Tsukune Zoni'. This zoni was made together with intern students. The students worked hard in the cold to call out for the food. I didn't eat it...

Image credit: From the Zoni Kassen facebook page.

And the winner of the 2014 Conqueror of the Year award in fine style was the "Deliciousness at its finest, seared Echigo-Mochi pork with vegetable tempura zoni" served by Ohisama Heart de Ai LOVE♡from Yodamarien in Shinbata City. I'm sure there was a queue for it. We didn't eat this one either...

Image credit: From the Zoni Kassen facebook page.

It was a pity that we didn't have the Grand Prix, but it was nice to feel the season by eating warm ozoni while freezing in the cold. Many events are held in comfortable, air-conditioned facilities, but events where many people can get together in nature as it is are very valuable. The cold weather made us feel anew the body's principle of 'warming up by eating'.

We are already looking forward to next year.