Raw
Basashi
Basashi — raw horse meat sliced thin and dipped in hot-mustard miso
Raw horse meat, eaten thin-sliced, is said to trace to feeding horse meat to the wounded during the Boshin War — a taste of Aizuwakamatsu. In this inland city, where fresh fish was hard to come by, sashimi is said to mean horse before it means fish, and it is dipped in a hot-mustard miso unique to the area.
- Origin: Fukushima Aizuwakamatsu
- About 200 km north of Tokyo
What it's made of
Thin slices of horse meat, eaten raw and dipped in mustard miso or soy sauce, make up this dish from Aizuwakamatsu. The lean cut carries no excess fat, leaving a clean aftertaste and a tender bite, it's said. In this inland town far from the sea, it's said to stand in for fish sashimi so thoroughly that saying just "sashimi" there is understood to mean horse.
How it's made
Fresh horse meat is sliced thin and served raw, the basic method. It's typically dipped in soy sauce and mustard miso, which is said to bring out the clean flavor of the lean, fat-free meat. It's said to be mostly a food eaten at home, rarely ordered out at restaurants.
Why it took this shape
Aizuwakamatsu sits inland, ringed by mountains, and fresh seafood is said to have been hard to come by there, making the more accessible horse meat a valued source of protein instead. As a sashimi culture developed in a place with no coastline, eating horse meat raw in place of fish is thought to be how the custom took root.
Before you go
Dishes in the same style
- Akagarei no KomaburiRoe-bearing red flounder is sliced into sashimi and tossed with its own boiled, crumbled eggs, a dish from around the Amijiro area of Iwami Town. Said to have descended from a similar dish made with crucian carp roe, it pairs rich eggs with mild, fatty winter flounder for festivals and New Year's.
- Amagi no KawatakeA rare wild freshwater algae, found only in the Kogane River in Asakura, is dressed with sweet or three-flavor vinegar — said to have once been presented to the shogun, and now conservation efforts continue as it's listed as endangered.
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.