Processed staples ── Nerimono (fish-paste products)
Narutomaki
Narutomaki — the swirl-patterned fish roll
Narutomaki is a cylindrical fish cake made by rolling white and red-dyed paste into a spiral. Its cross-section reads like the character "no," and roughly nine in ten are said to be made in Yaizu, Shizuoka.
- Origin: Shizuoka Yaizu
- About 160 km southwest of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
White and red-dyed fish paste layered and rolled into a spiral, then formed into a cylinder. Sliced, it shows a swirl in its cross-section that reads like the Japanese character "no" -- a splash of color often dropped into ramen or oden. Getting that swirl to show cleanly is said to take real care in how the layers are rolled and dyed.
How it's made
Thin layers of white and red paste are rolled together with a bamboo mat, steamed, then sliced into rounds. The ridged edge left by the mat's press is another mark of how it's made. Most production today is machine-made, and even the hand-rolled-looking swirl is now reproduced with mechanical consistency.
Why it took this shape
Its name is said to nod to the whirlpools of the Naruto Strait, though the exact origin isn't settled. One account traces it to a five-color roll made in the late Edo period, from which only the red swirl split off into today's form. The strait's actual whirlpools are said to spin the opposite way more often than not, so the name and the real thing don't quite match. Today, roughly nine in ten are said to be produced in Yaizu, Shizuoka.
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.
- How to shop in a depachika (department store food hall)A guide to browsing prepared foods and bento, choosing wagashi as a gift with a good shelf life, sampling etiquette, end-of-day discounts, asking for cold packs and wrapping, and finding your way around a depachika floor.
Dishes in the same style
- Ago ChikuwaChikuwa made from the surimi of flying fish, called "ago" in Tottori. A knife through the firm grilled skin sends up a fragrant crackle, and it turns out darker than ordinary chikuwa. It's a taste of early summer, in season through the fish's spawning run from spring into summer.
- Ago-yakiAgo-yaki is Izumo noyaki made from flying-fish paste, fire-baked without a skewer. Its crackling surface and refined sweetness make it a favorite travel souvenir from Shimane.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Shizuoka
- Abekawa MochiFresh-pounded rice cake is dusted in soybean flour mixed with sugar. Named for the Abe River, it's said to have been famous among Tokaido travelers as a teahouse specialty and to appear in the travel novel Tokaidochu Hizakurige.
- BokumeshiSteamed eel and shaved burdock are simmered together and folded into freshly cooked rice. Its name is said to trace to oversized eels unfit for sale, used in staff meals at eel farms along the Oi River — a mixed rice dish of the region.
- Fuji KinkaBred by Shizuoka Prefecture by crossing its own Duroc line, Fujirock, with Jinhua, a rare breed from China's Zhejiang province — found only in Shizuoka. Said to combine Jinhua's tenderness with Fujirock's marbling.
- Fujieda Asa RamenA town that eats ramen at breakfast — often a hot bowl followed by a cold one.
- Fujinomiya YakisobaIt grew up as a postwar snack at Fujinomiya's candy shops and okonomiyaki stalls. Its identity rests on three local staples: chewy steamed noodles, pork-lard cracklings called nikukasu, and a sardine-powder topping called dashiko.
- GawaRaw bonito is minced and mixed into a chilled miso broth with cucumber, pickled plum, and shiso. Its name is said to come from the "gawa-gawa" sound of stirring miso into ice water aboard a fishing boat — originally a summer meal made at sea.