Place

Chiba

千葉県

35 items

● 30 born here(Arirang Ramen, Barappa Manju, Rakkasei Miso, and more) / ● 5 prepared here(Iwashi no Unohana-zuke, Choshi shoyu, Kinzanji Miso, and more) / ○ 3 known for it here

Born here30

Arirang RamenアリランラーメンShoyu — soy saucea soy ramen named for a mountain pass in a Korean folk songA soy ramen said to have started at a single restaurant on a mountain pass in Chiba's Nagara. Named, it's said, for the legendary Arirang Pass of Korean folklore, its soy broth carries the sweetness of onion and pork, layered with house-made chili oil and grated garlic for depth and heat.
Barappa Manjuばらっぱまんじゅうsteamed bun wrapped in catbrier leafFreshly milled wheat dough is wrapped around red bean paste and steamed on a leaf of catbrier, called barappa locally — a bun said to be made in Chiba's Hokuso area when people gathered for summer festivals or Obon, each bringing ingredients to share.
Rakkasei Miso落花生味噌peanuts stirred into sweet misoPeanuts too small or misshapen to sell are stirred into miso and sugar and toasted into a pantry relish — said to have started as a way for farm households to use up peanuts the market wouldn't take, in leaner years.
Sumitsukareすみつかれgrated daikon simmered with soybeans and sake lees, a Chiba versionDaikon and carrot, coarsely grated with a rough-toothed oni-oroshi grater, are simmered with leftover setsubun soybeans and sake lees — said to have traveled from Tochigi into Chiba's Higashikatsushika area, offered to the local inari shrine on the year's first Day of the Horse before being eaten. Ibaraki and Saitama carry dishes of the same name.
Yude Rakkaseiゆで落花生boiled fresh peanutsFreshly dug peanuts, still in their shells, are boiled whole in salted water — a taste unique to the growing region, since raw peanuts start hardening the moment they're pulled from the ground and need to be boiled almost immediately.
Chikko Toufuチッコ豆腐curd made from cow's first milkA cow's first milk after calving is warmed and split with a little vinegar into a plain curd — tied to the story of shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune's white cattle raised at the Mineoka pastures, said to be the start of dairy farming in Japan, and long eaten among the region's dairy households.
Funabashi Sauce Ramen船橋ソースラーメンBesides shoyu, miso, shio and tonkotsua ramen built on Worcestershire sauce instead of soySaid to have been born at a Chinese restaurant in a Funabashi shopping street, this ramen builds its broth on Worcestershire sauce. The dark broth is balanced for sourness, sweetness, and salt, finished with green laver and red pickled ginger that recall yakisoba.
Futomaki Zushi太巻ずしBoso's picture-cut sushi rollSushi rice rolled with rolled omelet, kanpyo, greens, and pink oboro fish flakes reveals a bright picture when sliced — a Boso farmhouse dish said to be made for festivals and seasonal turning points, its cut pattern shown off from house to house.
Fuukashiふうかしmiso soup from steamed asari clamsAsari clams are steamed, and their own steaming liquid is loosened with a little miso — said to trace to fishermen who steamed clams for transport before refrigeration existed and drank the leftover broth as a working meal, a bowl shaped by Tokyo Bay's fishing towns.
Gonjuuごんじゅうpork and fried-tofu rice balls for festival mikoshi bearersPork belly and fried tofu simmered sweet and savory are mixed with bonito flakes into rice and shaped into onigiri — handed out to the young men carrying the mikoshi at Tateyama's Yawatanmachi festival, the thoroughly cooked filling also said to guard against food poisoning in the late-summer heat.
Haba Zoniはば雑煮New Year's mochi soup with dried habanori seaweedDried habanori seaweed harvested along the Boso coast is crumbled over grilled mochi and broth for New Year's — eating it at the year's start is said to bring the local pun's promise of "carrying weight" (haba) all year.
Iwashi no Dango Jiruいわしのだんご汁sardine dumpling soupSardines are filleted, ground with miso, grated mountain yam, and egg, then dropped as dumplings into a broth of daikon and taro — a winter soup built on Kujukuri's sardine catch, once so plentiful it was called "rice of the sea."
Juubako-iri Botamochi重箱入りぼたもちlayered rice-cake sweet for a newborn's third daySweet rice and red-bean paste are layered whole into a lacquered box rather than shaped into individual mounds, so each person takes as much as they like — made to mark a baby's third day, a custom said to carry the hope of nourishing a mother soon after birth.
Kaisouかいそうjellied seaweed for New Year's, made from kotoji-tsunomataA seaweed called kotoji-tsunomata is simmered until it thickens, then set in a mold like a firm jelly — merchants from Choshi are said to have sold it door to door each year-end, and it became a palate-cleanser among the heavier dishes of osechi.
Kaki Mochiかき餅dried, thin-sliced rice crackersGlutinous rice pounded with taro, sesame, and nori is sliced thin and air-dried into a keeping snack — said to trace to pounding it alongside New Year's mochi, later fried in low-temperature oil or toasted over charcoal.
Kara Namasuからなますtofu-lees salad with sardine and vegetablesToasted tofu lees are tossed with vinegar-cured sardine, carrot, cucumber, and fried tofu, dressed in miso, vinegar, and ground peanut — a fixture of gatherings like Tateyama's Hoso Festival, shaped into little rice-bale mounds for celebratory occasions.
Katsuura Tantanmen勝浦タンタンメンBesides shoyu, miso, shio and tonkotsurayu-red soy soup with minced pork and onionA soy soup flooded with chili oil, onion and minced pork — built to warm divers coming out of the sea.
Mobara-menもばらーめんBesides shoyu, miso, shio and tonkotsuramen piled with pork belly, its name a pun on Mobara and pork bellyA local ramen from Mobara City said to shorten a phrase for a ramen piled high with pork belly. The one constant is the mountain of pork belly; broth style and toppings vary by shop, tied together only by an agreement to use vegetables grown around Mobara and Chosei.
Namerouなめろうpounded raw fish with miso from the Boso coastFresh-caught horse mackerel is pounded with miso, scallion, and ginger right on a rocking boat until it turns sticky — miso was used instead of soy sauce because soy sauce spilled on deck, and the name is said to come from wanting to lick the plate clean.
Omigawa Curry Yakisoba小見川カレー焼きそばChiba's ramen-like curry-dusted yakisobaA dish loved in Omigawa, part of Katori city in Chiba. Despite the name, it looks more like a bowl of ramen with a sauce-flavored broth, dusted with curry powder before eating. It's said to trace to a single shop that once stood along the Kurobe River.
Shiozuke Takenoko no Tenpura塩漬けタケノコの天ぷらtempura of salt-cured bamboo shootBamboo shoots from Otaki, known for a pale color and little bitterness, are salt-cured then desalted, seasoned in a soy sauce mixture, and fried in an egg-and-flour batter — a way, it's said, of holding onto shoots grown in a short spring season long enough to eat them year-round.
Sanga Yakiさんが焼きgrilled namerou from Boso's fishing villagesNamerou is packed into a scallop or abalone shell and grilled — said to come from fishermen who carried it in the shell up into the hills for woodcutting work and grilled it there, the local dialect word for "house," ga, giving the dish its name.
Seigaku Mochi性学もちpounded rice cake made without mochi riceOrdinary non-glutinous rice, steamed twice without grinding and pounded like mochi, makes a rice cake with little of the stickiness of the real thing — said to have been devised by the late-Edo farmer-educator Ohara Yugaku for households that couldn't afford true mochi rice.
White Gaura RamenホワイトガウラーメンBesides shoyu, miso, shio and tonkotsua milk-based white broth from Sodegaura's dairy countryBorn in Sodegaura, a city known for dairy farming, this ramen runs on a white broth made with milk. Ginger tempers the milk's smell, and the name Gaura is a coined word for Sodegaura that also names the city's mascot.
Takatsu no Torimeshi高津のとり飯soy-simmered chicken mixed into riceChicken thigh, cut small, is simmered in nothing but soy sauce and mixed into hot rice — a Takatsu district dish said to be served at the koyasu-ko safe-delivery gathering and the hassaku harvest-prayer, the small-cut meat explained either as a way of sharing it fairly or of taming an older bird's tougher meat.
Takeoka Ramen竹岡式ラーメンShoyu — soy saucebroth made from chashu simmering liquidThe broth is simply chashu simmering liquid cut with hot water — a fishing town's invention, sometimes over dried noodles.
Tenmondouてんもんどうroot vegetables candied in sugar syrupFibrous vegetables like burdock, lotus root, and ginger are boiled thin, then slow-simmered in sugar and dried into a keeping sweet — its name is said to trace to an old herbal remedy of asparagus root steeped in honey, and it was eaten as a snack to fuel farm work during the busy season.
Teppou Maki鉄砲巻きa katsuobushi rice roll from FuttsuToasted nori is spread not with vinegared sushi rice but with plain rice, rolled around a soy-doused core of bonito flakes — named for its resemblance to a gun barrel, and said to have traveled as portable food for fishermen in Futtsu, a nori-growing town.
Toridose鶏雑炊chicken and rice porridge for New Year's and gatheringsChicken and shaved burdock simmer in broth seasoned with miso, then cooked rice is stirred in to finish — served at New Year's and other gatherings, with even the pounded chicken bones sometimes worked into dumplings so nothing goes to waste.
Yangomeヤンゴメtoasted rice and sweetened azuki for ObonRice soaked overnight is toasted, then steamed together with azuki beans simmered in sugar — it looks like sekihan but tastes gently sweet, and is tied to the Boso peninsula's Obon custom of scattering rice and water toward the welcoming and send-off fires while chanting for the dead.

Prepared here5

Known for it here12

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●Born here30

●Prepared here5

Known for it here12

Neighboring regions

Born here30

Prepared here5