What is 'Pure White'?

Have you ever heard of 'Pure White,' also known as the phantom white corn?

Pure White is a variety of sweet corn, incredibly popular for gifts, characterized by its pure white appearance and fruity sweetness. The kernels are soft and juicy, making it delicious whether eaten raw, boiled, or heated in the microwave. Once you try it, you're sure to be captivated by its taste.

Did you know that Nanporo Town was a pioneer in cultivating Pure White corn in Hokkaido and is now a major production area?

The cultivation of Pure White in Nanporo began an incredible 23 years ago, at a time when no one had ever seen white corn.

"Back then, my father and his friends were growing pumpkins. During a training session, they visited Yukijirushi Shubyo (Snow Brand Seed Co., Ltd.) and were served a corn soup. They were told it was 'still in the trial phase.' The soup was pure white, incredibly sweet, and delicious. They were amazed, wondering, 'What is this?!' That was the catalyst. They started test-cultivating Pure White, which was a new variety at the time, and that's how it all began in Nanporo."
Until then, corn had not been grown in Nanporo, so they started from scratch with no know-how or sales channels. After much trial and error, they finally managed to ship it, but white corn was completely unfamiliar back then. Even people at the market dismissed it, saying, "We can't sell corn of this color."

But they had absolute confidence in the taste of Pure White, so they never gave up until its flavor was recognized.

"We wanted people to know how delicious Pure White is, so we started by offering it to everyone, saying, 'Just try it!' At one point, it was featured on TV, and that brought us a lot of attention from various places. The demand from outside Hokkaido became huge, and now it's mostly sold as gifts or as a return gift for Nanporo's hometown tax donation program."
Today, the 'Akarui Noson Network' (Bright Rural Village Network), founded by Mr. Jochi's father and his colleagues, consists of eight farms producing about 400,000 ears of corn annually. It is also the number one most popular item in Nanporo's hometown tax donation program.

The white corn, which became a sensation after being featured on TV, spread to various regions, and the cultivation of other varieties also flourished. Even so, the Pure White from the 'Akarui Noson Network' is said to have an overwhelmingly low 'complaint rate.' What could be the reason?

The Secret to the Popularity of Nanporo's 'Pure White' Corn

There's a reason for the high satisfaction rate of Pure White corn grown in Nanporo. One is, without a doubt, the thorough 'quality control.'

"We limit the people who can harvest the corn. At Jochi Farms, only my father, my mother, and I do the harvesting. It's the same for the other farms. Because only those who can identify the perfect harvest timing are picking the corn, there's no variation in size or kernel fullness, allowing us to maintain high quality."

Furthermore, while the standard for an L-size Pure White is '300 grams or more,' the 'Akarui Noson Network' initially set its own standard to ship only those weighing 350 grams or more (*). This Pure White, which offers great satisfaction in both size and quality, is highly regarded as a gift.

*The variety has since changed to 'Pure White SP,' which has been bred to grow larger kernels. Accordingly, the standard has been updated to ship only those weighing 380 grams or more.

They also carefully select their shipping companies, ensuring that deliveries outside Hokkaido arrive within two days. In addition, they take meticulous care to preserve freshness, such as packing the corn upright in boxes, just as it grew before harvest. Their desire for customers to be delighted upon receiving and eating the corn is what leads to the low complaint rate.

Soup and Dressing Born from a 'Waste Not' Spirit

Nanporo's Pure White maintains its high quality by setting its own strict standards. While this ensures high customer satisfaction, it also means that some corn, despite being delicious, cannot be shipped because it is 'even one gram short of the standard.'

The 'Pure White Soup' was born from the desire of everyone at the 'Akarui Noson Network' to find a use for this perfectly good but non-standard Pure White corn, which seemed too wasteful to throw away.

"From the desire to make use of it, we asked a company called Nankaen to make soup from the Pure White corn that we had shucked and frozen ourselves. That led to its commercialization. It wasn't 'Let's make soup!' but rather, 'What can we do with this corn that's a waste to throw away?' that gave birth to this Pure White soup."
This soup contains Pure White corn paste, so you can make a luxurious soup just by adding milk and heating it up. The sweetness of the Pure White fills your mouth, bringing a feeling of happiness. It also has whole kernels, adding a pleasant texture!

Besides eating it as soup, it's also recommended as a pasta sauce or as a filling for croquettes! I'd love to try that.


Additionally, one day a salesperson from Nihon Shoyu Kogyo Co., Ltd. in Asahikawa approached them, saying, 'We want to make a corn dressing!' This led to the creation of a delicious dressing that leverages the flavor and sweetness of Pure White.

Shucking the Pure White kernels is a time-consuming process, so production is limited, making this a rare item that's hard to find outside of Nanporo Town.

"This dressing isn't too salty, even if you use a lot. So it's delicious even when poured generously over a salad! Also, it's actually great on cold tofu, and my personal favorite is on ramen salad! It's delicious, so please give it a try."

A Gift from Nanporo! Pure White Soup and Dressing Giveaway

The prize for this giveaway campaign is a set of soup and dressing made with plenty of Pure White corn, lovingly grown by the members of Nanporo's 'Akarui Noson Network'!

After agreeing to the terms and conditions, you can participate by following the official Domingo Twitter account (@cfm_domingo) and retweeting or quote-tweeting the campaign tweet (below).
*Only one entry per person is valid.

／
フォロー&RTで
スープ＆ドレッシングが当たる🎁
＼#南幌町 #明るい農村ネットワーク の白くて甘いとうもろこし #ピュアホワイト のスープ＆ドレッシングを #プレゼント 🌽

▼応募方法
① @cfm_domingo をフォロー
②この投稿をRT or 引用RT

▼〆切
3/21(月)

▼詳細はhttps://t.co/6ihviuLD2Q

— Domingo(公式) | 市町村公認！北海道の情報メディア (@cfm_domingo) March 14, 2022

For an overview, application method, conditions, and terms, please read the article here.