Fight food!

March 26, 2005 11:09 AM

Chankonabe. If you've ever wondered how sumotori achieve their epic bulk, this article from Gastronomica details the complex preparation and serving rituals of the (perhaps not) delicious, protein-rich chunky soup that's the staple of their diet (with recipe helpfully included).
posted by melissa may (7 comments total)

I suspect its the quantity rather than what kind of food that really matters here. Note the number of cups the big sumo wrestler in the upper left corner has emptied.
posted by foreverycomplexproblemthereisasolutionthatiswrong at 11:49 AM on March 26, 2005

It actually sounds quite tasty, and healthy. Must be the quantity.
posted by maryh at 12:16 PM on March 26, 2005

From what I've read about this, there is a pretty strict pecking order. The highest ranking wrestlers get first dibs, so they get the good stuff. This leaves the not-so-nice bits for the lower ranks. Yosenabe is great; we've had it prepared tableside many times.
posted by fixedgear at 2:20 PM on March 26, 2005

The massive portions definitely are the cause for the weight, but the healthy portion of veggies seems to make this pretty good for you too. I wouldn't be surprised to hear how the typical sumo is far healthier than most other people as fat as him, with the nutritional diet and constant exercise. Still morbidly obese, but fame and fortune has a price these days.
posted by Saydur at 4:39 PM on March 26, 2005

Mmmm, sounds delicious, definitely going to go on my "must make this" list. That's an odd way of making dashi at the beginning of the recipe, boiling is going to bring out a fishy taste from the kombu and boil off the yummy smokey flavor of the bonito. The normal method is to put the kombu in cold water, raise it to just under boiling at medium heat, remove from the heat and remove the kombu, add the bonito for 2 minutes, and finally strain.
posted by TungstenChef at 5:16 PM on March 26, 2005

I saw a young sumo wrestler in a Tokyo train station. He was big, of course, but he moved amazingly well, not the way you'd expect someone of that size to move. There's definitely something to their diet and training.
posted by tommasz at 6:09 PM on March 26, 2005

tommasz, don't forget that these guys are professional athletes. They spend their days eating and working out. Certainly amounts to much more work-out than I get.

BTW, Konishiki now moderates childrens TV programs here in Japan on NHK.
posted by sour cream at 10:05 PM on March 26, 2005