Fermented & preserved
Ika Ninjin
Ika ninjin — shredded squid and carrot steeped in a sweet soy marinade
Shredded dried squid and carrot are steeped in a marinade of soy sauce and coarse sugar — a Fukushima City staple. Said to have begun as a keeping food for the region's snowbound winters, the squid's chewy bite and sweet-salty marinade are known for making rice disappear fast.
- Origin: Fukushima City, Fukushima
- About 240 km north of Tokyo
What it's made of
Shredded dried squid and carrot are steeped in a sweet-savory marinade of soy sauce and either coarse sugar or mirin in this Fukushima City staple. The carrot's crisp bite and the squid's slowly unfolding savoriness come together, well coated in the sweet, salty marinade. It's said to be a long-loved side that keeps rice moving.
How it's made
Shredded squid and carrot are steeped in a marinade of boiled sugar or mirin, sake, and soy sauce, the basic method. It's edible after about half a day, but the flavor is said to sink in more deeply the longer it sits, up to several days. In some areas, toasted sesame is sprinkled on top for extra fragrance, it's said.
Why it took this shape
In snowbound Fukushima, harvesting crops through winter is said to have been difficult, making long-keeping preserved foods especially valuable. Marinating squid and carrot in a sweet-salty sauce so they could keep for days or longer is thought to be the wisdom behind the dish, and it's said to have become a fixture even at New Year's.
Dishes in the same style
- Achara ZukeWhite melon, eggplant, and lotus root are pickled in a sweet vinegar spiked with red chili — the name is said to trace to the Portuguese 'achar', carried in through Hakata Bay's old trade, and an odd number of vegetables is used for Obon hospitality.
- AhodakiOld takuan pickle, once its flavor and aroma have faded, is desalted and simmered again in soy sauce, a pantry staple from the Hokusei area. Its name — playfully self-deprecating, roughly "doing a foolish thing" — nods to eating it well past its prime, a frugal way to waste nothing.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Fukushima
- Aizu RamenFlat, thick hand-made noodles in a clear soy broth. Said to trace back to a Aizuwakamatsu diner owner bringing home a taste learned in Yokohama — a second soy ramen lineage that grew up apart from Kitakata's, in the same Aizu region.
- Aizu Curry YakisobaA dish from Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima: sauce yakisoba topped with curry roux. It's said to trace to a diner called Tommy Food, which began ladling curry over its yakisoba, catching on especially among young diners for its low price and filling size.
- Aizu GyuSteers and heifers of Japanese Black raised in the Aizu basin, fed mainly local rice straw — the basin's sharp seasonal swings are said to suit fattening, making it Fukushima's leading brand.
- Aizu JidoriA lineage said to have been brought to Aizu by Heike clan refugees, saved from near-extinction and re-established through crossbreeding by Fukushima prefecture; reportedly fattened for 90 to 170 days.
- Aizu Sōsu KatsudonAizu's sauce katsudon, doused in a thick sweet-savory sauce. Its origin has several competing accounts, none settled, but all point to it being refined through everyday improvisation on Taisho-era Western food.
- Aizu Yamajio RamenSalt ramen seasoned with mountain salt drawn from hot-spring water — rounder than sea salt.