Fried ── Fried dishes
Zerii Furai
Zerii Furai — a deep-fried patty of okara and potato, coin-shaped and sauced
A coin-shaped patty of okara and potato mixed with carrot and leek, deep-fried without batter and dipped in sauce, a Gyoda snack. Its name is said to be a slurring of zeni furai, meaning coin fry.
- Origin: Saitama Gyoda
- About 60 km northwest of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
This fritter, made mainly of okara and potato, looks like an unbattered croquette. Shaped like an old coin, it has a chewy bite and the savory tang of Worcestershire sauce, giving a simple yet satisfying taste that is said to hold up well even after it cools.
How it's made
Okara and boiled, mashed potato are mixed well with stir-fried carrot and scallion. The mixture is shaped into an oval like an old coin and fried as is, with no batter, then dipped in Worcestershire sauce to finish, the edges turning especially fragrant and crisp fresh from the oil.
Why it took this shape
The dish is said to trace back to a recipe brought over from the continent, and its name is said to come from its resemblance to an old coin. Once a treat enjoyed by ordinary people, its ease of making from readily available okara and potatoes is said to have kept it rooted in local life, still loved today as an everyday snack.
Before you go
- How to use a convenience storeA quick guide to choosing rice balls and hot snacks, buying coffee, paying by cash, IC card, or tap payment, using the eat-in corner, and sorting your trash — the basics for a first visit.
- Tanabata and festival food stallsA guide to the somen said to be eaten on Tanabata, and to festival-stall staples like yakisoba, takoyaki, candy apples, and shaved ice.
- Takeout and convenience store customsHow to answer "Shall I warm it up?", choosing chopsticks and a paid plastic bag, saying whether you'll eat in or take out, handling trash and eating while walking, and the different tax rate for takeout versus eating in.
Dishes in the same style
- Agemaki Yuba no NimonoFresh yuba sheets are layered, rolled into a log, sliced into rounds, and deep-fried before a slow simmer in a light broth — a Nikko dish built on the region's rippled yuba-making craft, served at New Year's and celebrations.
- Aji FryFilleted horse mackerel breaded in panko and fried. Chiba prefecture holds some of the richest mackerel fishing grounds in Japan, and frying is thought to have taken root as a quick way to eat regional brands like the oily 'golden aji' fresh.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Saitama
- Sakekasu Miso RamenA winter-only ramen from Ageo City, where sake lees from a long-running local brewery are worked into a Chinese restaurant's miso broth. The lees' depth and aroma layer over the miso's savoriness, leaving a mellow finish that warms the body in the cold months.
- Dojo NiPond loach caught in the paddies of eastern Saitama, simmered sweet and savory with shaved burdock, from a land fed by the Arakawa and Tone rivers. Rich in nutrients, it was valued as a tonic and a food for pregnant women.
- Higashimatsuyama YakitoriPork cheek grilled over charcoal and brushed with a spicy miso sauce.
- HiyajiruSesame and miso ground in a mortar, mixed with summer vegetables like cucumber and shiso, then chilled with cold water. It serves as a dipping broth for udon in noodle-loving Saitama, and Kawajima town calls it suttate.
- Iga ManjuA sweet bean bun wrapped in red rice and steamed, said to originate in Konosu. Named for its resemblance to a spiky chestnut burr, it balances a sweet-salty flavor with a chewy bite.