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Ego
Ego — seaweed simmered down and set firm, sliced like a savory jelly
Ego-gusa, a seaweed, is simmered for about thirty minutes until it dissolves, then poured into a mold and chilled firm — a dish of Nishiaizu. Said to have been brought from Niigata in the late Edo period as a bar snack and to have taken root in Nishiaizu, once a post-station town, it is usually eaten with hot mustard and soy sauce.
- Origin: Fukushima Nishiaizu
- About 220 km north of Tokyo
What it's made of
A seaweed called ego-gusa is boiled down and set into firm squares in this dish from Nishiaizu and Kitakata. Its defining texture sits somewhere between kanten jelly and gelatin, served with mustard soy sauce or ginger soy sauce, it's said. The way it's cut is said to subtly change the texture too.
How it's made
The seaweed is soaked in water and rinsed clean, then simmered in a pot of water for about thirty minutes until it dissolves, the basic method. Once melted, it's poured into a tray and chilled firm in the refrigerator, it's said. Cut into pieces to taste, it's eaten with mustard soy sauce or vinegared soy sauce, or sometimes preserved in miso, it's said.
Why it took this shape
In landlocked Nishiaizu, ego is said to have arrived from Niigata in the late Edo period as an accompaniment to sake, carried through the area's post towns, and to have taken root there. It's said to have been passed down as a vegetarian feast dish served at gatherings for weddings, funerals, Obon, and New Year's.
Before you go
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Dishes in the same style
- Agonoko UmaniThe roe of egg-bearing flying fish, caught only in early summer, is simmered in stock and soy sauce as an Oki bar snack. Its large grains and dense, sticky texture are prized as a delicacy said to be scarcer even than the fish's flesh.
- Funa MisoCrucian carp is simmered slowly with soybeans for around five hours, then finished in a sauce of red miso and coarse sugar. A freshwater fish dish of the Kiso rivers' lower basin, made with fatty winter carp simmered until the bones soften through.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Contrast
- Konnyaku no ShiraaeKonnyaku and carrot, cut into strips, are simmered in soy sauce and sugar, drained, and folded into mashed tofu seasoned with sugar and salt — a dish of Hanawa. Hanawa is known as a konnyaku-growing town, and this sweetish side is said to have been made for weddings and funerals there.
- Ego no SumisoaeEgo-gusa seaweed is simmered down, poured into a mold and set firm, then sliced like konnyaku sashimi and dipped in a mustard vinegar-miso. Said to have arrived via peddlers along the old salt road from the Sea of Japan coast, it's considered essential at Obon and family occasions in northern and central Nagano.
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.