Freshly boiled rice is pounded to a paste, applied to thick skewers of Akita cedar wood, and then grilled over an open charcoal fire. These cylindrical dumplings (known as tanpo) are cut into smaller portions, then simmered in a bubbling hot pot prepared from the meat of Hinai chicken (a local breed of fowl for which the prefecture is famous). Other ingredients in kiritanpo-nabe include burdock, mushrooms, scallions, and seri (water dropwort) herb. The broth is seasoned with soy sauce.