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Roots and tubers from Hokkaido and Sakhalin

Penne-imo / potche-imo (Ainu snow-fermented potato starch cakes)ポッチェイモ

Penne-imo, also called potche-imo, is an Ainu food made from potatoes left buried in snow over winter, where they freeze and thaw again and again and begin to ferment. In spring the soft potatoes are peeled, crushed and washed in water, and the starch that settles is dried and stored. It is later soaked, kneaded into cakes and grilled.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Penne-imo / potche-imo itself.

Short entryRoots and tubers

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHousehold practice with no fixed amounts.
PotatoesBuried in snow on purpose, or left unharvested under snow[jawp]
WaterFor washing the crushed potatoes and soaking the dried starch[jawp]
Starterspontaneous
Start
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SugarsLactic acid

What changes: Potatoes left under snow freeze and thaw again and again and start to ferment

Step 1 of 4
Leave potatoes under snow over winter
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: fermented, frost-damaged potatoes.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
tubers turn soft and mushy
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

the potatoes ferment as they freeze and thaw

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Penne-imo, also called potche-imo, is an Ainu food made from potatoes left buried in snow over winter, where they freeze and thaw again and again and begin to ferment. In spring the soft potatoes are peeled, crushed and washed in water, and the starch that settles is dried and stored. It is later soaked, kneaded into cakes and grilled. Not studied; the potatoes are said to ferment as they freeze and thaw under snow does most of the fermenting.

What makes this one different

Unlike Japanese shimi-imo and Andean chuño, the potatoes are not freeze-dried. They are left wet to ferment, then washed, and only the settled starch is dried.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Shimi-imo (Japanese frozen-dried potato)Frozen and dried on purpose rather than left wet to ferment.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Potatoes reached Ainu lands in the late 18th century, so the dish dates from after that. Names vary by district (potce-imo in Kushiro, pene-imo in Biratori, munin-imo in Tokachi); munin means to rot or ferment. The ja.wikipedia article notes that fermentation is the usual method today but not always required. It began as everyday food in Ainu homes and is still made; it is now also served to tourists at restaurants and some hotels by Lake Akan.

  1. [jawp] ja.wikipedia, ポッチェイモ (citing Kyoto Shimbun 2017, Ainu-language radio course texts and the Teikoku Databank museum), read 2026-10wiki
  2. [walker] Walkerplus, アイヌの保存食はどんな味? (Lake Akan Ainu restaurant that serves potche-imo)web