- Category Food & Beverage
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Sorry for the delay guys been a busy few weeks. We are back and at our penultimate couple of stops on our culinary adventure, we have plenty of seafood and noodles and plenty more tasty dishes to feast your eyes on. This is the last stop before we hit up the south and eventually the beautiful islands of Okinawa so lets start and let me know your favourite.
CHUGOKU
- Tottori
Tottori gyukotsu ramen – A famous dish that is said to have originated in Yonago city. It is an unusual ramen where the soup is a broth made from beef bone. You can adjust the taste to your liking with soy sauce and salt which enhances the unique, rich and fragrant flavour of this local speciality.
Kotoura Ago Katsu curry – Tottori prefecture has the highest consumption of Japanese curry roux in all of Japan. Many shops put their unique spin on the dish. Ago is Japanese flying fish, which is coated then deep fried making it juicy and melt in your mouth. Served on top of a rich curry and rice it’s a perfect combination.
- Shimane
Izumo soba – The custom of eating soba outdoors during the Edo Era remains in the soba culture of the city of Matsue. The way of eating Izumo soba involves pouring the tsuyu (soba sauce) into the first tier of noodles of the multi-tier box and then pouring it from there into the second and finally the third tiers.
Shinji clam Soup – Probably the simplest Japanese soup you can make (aside from miso soup, of course). It includes the broth of the Shijimi clam, seasoned with some soy sauce and miso. It is a dish that has been common since the Edo period, and is known for being cheap and easy to make.
- Okayama
Kakioko – ‘Kaki’ means oyster and ‘oko’ is the shortened form of okonomiyaki. The main ingredient is shredded cabbage and tons of juicy oysters. Once you take a bite, the sauce, saltiness and freshness of the oysters are mouth-watering. A unique regional spin on the famous okonomiyaki from Osaka
Barazushi – Back in the Edo era a feudal lord declared that a cup of soup and a one dish meal was all the people were allowed to eat so the people created barazushi a dish which contains everything in one bowl, vegetables and fish and shrimp sit on top of rice to create a tasty, scrumptious dish.
- Hiroshima
Kaki no dotenabe – Oysters are very famous food in Hiroshima, kaki no dotenabe is a hotpot dish that is very popular and features succulent Hiroshima oysters simmered in an earthenware pot lined with sweet miso bean paste, together with tofu, vegetables, and a flavourful broth.
Hiroshimayaki – The main differences with Hiroshima okonomiyaki is that it contains yakisoba noodles in addition to other ingredients, and it is fried in layers rather than mixing all of the ingredients together in batter before cooking. Which version is more delicious is a topic of heavy debate between people from Hiroshima and Osaka.
Anago meshi – Soft and fluffy conger eel which is steamed over rice so the flavour leaves a wonderful taste to the rice and topped with just a touch of soy sauce and another piece of charcoal roasted eel just for good measure. This dish also makes up a famous bento at Hiroshima train stations.
Momiji manju – A famous local specialty that is frequently purchased by visitors to Hiroshima as an omiyage, a type of food souvenir in Japan. It’s a small cake in the shape of a maple leaf, a traditional symbol of Hiroshima, that’s filled with sweet red bean paste or flavors like matcha green tea, chocolate, and cream cheese.
- Yamaguchi
Sanzoku chicken – Sanzoku is a famous restaurant in the region that pays homage to the bandits that used to hang out in the local mountains. The restaurant is famous for its chicken on a stick. This is a skewered half of a chicken slathered in a gravy-type sauce which looks absolutely divine.
Iwakuni sushi – Known as the sushi for foreigners, it is actually very different from most other sushi in that the rice is favoured with sweetness and it has no fish on top. Made in a square pan and then cut into rectangular pieces like a brownie. The individual pieces sometimes have cooked prawns on top but often have only a vegetable topping or no topping at all.
Kawara soba – A unique dish of Yamaguchi prefecture, Kawara soba is green tea soba noodle served with eggs, sukiyaki-style thin strips of beef and an assortment of vegetable in a sweet sauce. The thing that really sets this dish apart is that it is served atop a roof tile, a throwback to the 1887 civil war when soldiers used roof tiles to cook whatever food they could forage.
SHIKOKU
- Kagawa
Honetsuki chicken – The soul food of Kagawa. Bone-in chicken thighs that have been slowly grilled in an oven. Either, “oya-dori” (mature chicken) or “waka-dori” (young chicken). The oya-dori has a firm and solid texture. In contrast, the waka-dori is characterized by a soft, plump texture. Both are flavoured with special spices and lots of garlic, perfect to go with a nice cold beer.
Sanuki udon – the reason udon is so deeply rooted in Kagawa prefecture lies in the fact that the climate and the soil is perfect for the cultivation of flour. Sanuki udon are made with wheat flour during the time-consuming process in which the noodles are kneaded by hand, left to rise, and are then pressed with hand and feet in order to create the firm dough which is rolled and sliced into udon strips. Quickly boiled, they should always be cooked al dente, to retain their legendary dense structure.
Sakaide sweet potato balls – These fried sweet potato balls are made by mixing locally grown sweet potato and carrots and coating the mixture with Shodo Island somen noodles. These delicious sweets with a crunchy exterior and warm potato on the inside are full of local Sakide flavour and are a favourite with locals and tourists alike.
- Ehime
Jakoten – This cake is made from small fish that are blended into a paste and then fried. Basically, it’s a fish cake made from Hotarujako, a small white fish. It’s usually eaten with soy sauce and grated daikon and washed down with a beer.
Yakibuta Tamago Don – Originally a Chinese dish, BBQ pork and soft-cooked eggs are eaten atop of rice with sweet and salty sauce as a garnish. A quite simple but tasty and wholesome dish.
- Tokushima
Tokushima Ramen – Known for the charred brown hue of its pork bone and soy sauce soup and topped with sukiyaki-style sweet and spicy pork belly and the bonus of a raw egg. Tokushima locals often eat their Tokushima ramen with white rice.
Kaizoku ryori – Wow this looks amazing, the feast from the sea that is kaizoku ryori “pirate food” you grill and eat whole seafood such as lobster, scampi, abalone and turban shell molluscs. This is a fitting cooking style for Tokushima where many products come from the sea. The wafting aroma of the sea when you grill your seafood will whet your appetite.
- Kochi
Katsuo no tatakai – Kochi’s most famous local food, katsuo-no-tataki, is a dish of skipjack tuna or bonito fish grilled over a straw flame and served seared on the outside and rare in the centre. The grilled fish is thickly sliced and coated either in sea salt or a ponzu soy sauce. It is then garnished with condiments, such as sliced raw onion, scallions, grated wasabi, shiso and ginger.
Utsubo karaage – Moray eel cut into bite size pieces, dipped in seasoned tempura batter, and then fried to perfection, a squeeze of lemon and you are good to go. A great drinking snack or addition to your meal.
Hamo – Hamo, or dagger-tooth pike eel, is a summer ingredient that became popular in traditional Kyoto cuisine. It is also a dish local to Kochi, where it is freshly caught and deboned and then poached and served with a dipping sauce made from ume plum.
And there we have it guys another stop on the trip around Japan, again many varieties of food and a dish for anyones taste, the seafood looks insanely good and fresh. ome back next week for our final part but until then take a look at some of our older posts.
