Noodles
Tai Men
Tai men — a whole simmered sea bream served over a bowl of udon noodles
A whole sea bream, lightly salt-grilled then simmered in dashi, is set atop udon noodles boiled in that same broth — a Himeshima wedding dish, the bream chosen as a symbol of a lasting pair, its name also playing on a homophone for a couple's first meeting.
- Origin: Oita Himeshima
- About 770 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
Taimen, handed down on Himeshima island, is a simple yet lavish dish of udon topped with a whole simmered sea bream. The udon, boiled in broth infused with the bream's flavor, is said to be well seasoned throughout. Because sea bream reportedly mate for life, the dish is served as an auspicious food at weddings, and a pun on "taimen," meaning both "sea bream noodles" and "meeting face to face," is said to have made it a fixture at the formal first meeting of two families before a wedding.
How it's made
Fresh sea bream is lightly salt-grilled, then simmered in dashi broth. Udon noodles are boiled in the broth infused with the bream's flavor so they soak it up, then arranged on a large platter to resemble waves, with the bream placed on top. After being presented to the guests, the udon and flaked bream are portioned out and eaten. Similar dishes exist beyond Himeshima: around Oita city a separately made broth is poured over the portions, while the Usa area uses somen noodles instead of udon, so the method and noodle vary by place.
Why it took this shape
Himeshima, blessed with rich fishing grounds in the Seto Inland Sea, reportedly landed sea bream and other seafood in abundance. Because sea bream are said to mate for life, the dish is said to have taken hold as a wedding food expressing hope for a lasting marriage, and the long udon noodles are said to symbolize a relationship that continues far into the future. It was reportedly presented to guests as a highlight of the celebration, timed to a traditional congratulatory song.
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Dishes in the same style
- Abura SobaNo broth is poured at all — noodles are tossed in a soy-and-sesame-oil tare pooled at the bottom of the bowl, said to have started at shops in the Musashino area in the late 1950s, with vinegar and chili oil stirred in partway through.
- Abura ZomenPork and somen are fried together with a splash of broth, the oil and stock emulsifying into a silky coat on the noodles. Just how somen took root in wheat-free Amami isn't clear, but the dish is a fixture whenever people gather, not least for the August Dance festival.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Contrast
- SorakitamochiBoiled sweet potato is split into a flour-kneaded wrapper and a sugared filling, then dusted with kinako — a Himeshima island sweet said to be named for how quickly it comes together for a sudden guest, with no steaming step needed.
- HochoWheat dough is hand-stretched into noodles over two meters long, then dipped into a broth of shiitake and dried sardine seasoned with condiments — a noodle dish from the Betsuji district of Oita City, its name said to come from warlord Otomo Sorin likening the strands to abalone intestine.
Also from Oita
- Aji no MaruzushiA whole horse mackerel, cured in plum vinegar and opened flat, is wrapped around vinegared rice and rolled in red shiso leaf — a celebratory sushi from Saiki, painstaking to prepare, built on the rich mackerel landed from the Bungo Channel.
- AmimeshiKrill simmered sweet-savory in mirin, soy sauce, and ginger is folded into freshly steamed rice — a dish from the Usa, Nakatsu, and Bungotakada coast, where krill are hauled from the Buzen Sea tideflats each autumn and winter; a favorite of the northern Oita coast.
- Atama RyoriGills, jaw, and innards of a large fish like grouper are quickly parboiled along with the flesh and piled onto a single platter — a dish from inland Taketa, far from the sea, said to have grown from a wish to waste nothing of a rare catch, served with a citrus dipping sauce.
- Ayu UrukaAyu (sweetfish) flesh or innards are minced with salt and left to ferment for about a week — an Oita salted delicacy said to have begun as a way to keep the clean river's seasonal catch; the innards-only version, nigauruka, carries a distinctive bitterness.
- Beppu ReimenThe dish's spread is traced to around 1950, when a cook repatriated from what had been Manchuria began making cold noodles in Beppu. Genso Arirang, founded that same year, is often named as the pioneering shop; the local style pairs a Japanese-style seafood stock with noodles made from buckwheat, wheat, and starch.
- Dango-jiruWheat dough kneaded and stretched into flat ribbons is simmered with root vegetables and shiitake in a barley-miso broth — an everyday Oita dish born of the prefecture's flour-based food culture, where poor rice land pushed wheat to the fore; the ribbons keep a firmer bite than udon.