Place
Gunma
群馬県
33 items
● 31 born here(Fujioka Ramen, Amaneji, Ayu Shioyaki, and more) / ● 2 raised here(Joshu Gyu, Joshu Mugi-buta)
Born here31
- Fujioka Ramen藤岡ラーメンShoyu — soy sauceclear soy broth of a quiet Gunma townAn unassuming clear soy chuka soba, rooted in the town's diner culture.
- Amanejiあまねじwheat dumplings simmered in sweet red bean soupWheat dumplings simmered in a sweetened red bean soup, mainly eaten around Shibukawa; Kawaba village calls it amadango. It was a treat during breaks from farm work.
- Ayu Shioyaki鮎塩焼きsalt-grilled sweetfish from the Kanna riverGunma's official fish, skewered in a zigzag and salted before charcoal grilling. Sweetfish from the Kanna river are prized for their aroma and firm flesh, drawing visitors once the season opens in June.
- Gojiru呉汁Gojiru (Gunma) — miso soup thickened with ground soybeans and vegetablesGround soybean paste, called go, stirred into a miso soup with seasonal vegetables. Made in soybean-growing Gunma from autumn into winter, it has long served as a warming, nutritious dish.
- Katemeshiかて飯Katemeshi (Gunma) — rice stretched with barley, beans and root vegetablesRice cooked with barley, beans, daikon and other bulking ingredients called kate. Born of rice shortages, it survives today as a mixed rice dish often served on the Tenjin festival day.
- Sosu Katsudonソースカツ丼Sosu Katsudon (Gunma) — breaded pork cutlet dipped in sauce over riceBreaded pork fillet dipped in a house sauce blending Worcestershire with eel tare, served over rice. It spread as a delivery favorite in the textile town of Kiryu and is now found across the prefecture.
- Konnyaku Miso Odenこんにゃく味噌おでんOdenKonnyaku Miso Oden (Gunma) — skewered konjac simmered then glazed with sweet misoSkewered konjac, simmered in sake and water then brushed with a sweet-savory miso glaze, eaten through the cold winter. Its nickname, hippataki oden, comes from the slap of drying the konjac against a cloth.
- Konnyaku no Shiraaeこんにゃくの白和えkonjac dressed in sweetened tofu-sesame pasteA shiraae dressing of mashed tofu, sugar and mirin tossed with parboiled konjac. It takes the nationwide shiraae style and adds konjac, reflecting Gunma's status as Japan's top konjac producer.
- Mayudamaまゆ玉rice-flour dumplings shaped like silkworm cocoons for offeringsRice- or millet-flour balls shaped to resemble silkworm cocoons, hung on branches then roasted at the New Year bonfire. The custom reflects Gunma's sericulture heritage and prayers for a good cocoon harvest.
- NeginutaねぎぬたNeginuta (Gunma) — steamed leek dressed in sweet vinegar-misoSteamed leek, often the sweet Shimonita variety, dressed in vinegared miso. Served at weddings and the Doll Festival, it traditionally signals the closing course of a banquet.
- Shime Dofuしめ豆腐pressed tofu roll seasoned with soy sauce and sugarTofu rolled in a bamboo mat, boiled, then seasoned with soy sauce and sugar. Sliced thin like pickled radish, it has a kamaboko-like texture and was made for festivals and seasonal rites.
- Suitonすいとんhand-torn wheat dumplings simmered in a root-vegetable soupWheat-flour dumplings simmered with root vegetables in a dried-sardine broth. Once a stand-in for rice, it goes by different names and ingredients from town to town across Gunma.
- SumitsukareすみつかれSumitsukare (Gunma) — grated daikon simmered with salmon head and soybeansCoarsely grated daikon and carrot simmered with leftover New Year salmon head, Setsubun soybeans and sake lees. Offered at the fox shrine on the first Horse Day of February and eaten to ward off illness, a custom shared across northern Kanto.
- Tansan Manju炭酸まんじゅうbaking-soda steamed buns with sweet red bean fillingWheat buns leavened with baking soda and filled with sweet bean paste. The dough's faint bitterness sets off the filling's sweetness, and it once counted as a special treat when sugar was scarce.
- Torimeshi鶏めしsliced grilled chicken over rice with a savory-sweet sauceA rice bowl from Gunma, known for quality chicken such as Joshu Jidori raised on mulberry leaves and plum vinegar. Grilled, sauce-dipped chicken slices top the rice, and it doubles as a popular picnic lunch.
- Gunma no Udon群馬のうどんa family of local wheat noodle styles across the prefectureAn umbrella term for the wheat noodle traditions that grew up across wheat-loving Gunma, from Kiryu's extra-wide himokawa to Tatebayashi udon and Mizusawa udon, each with its own regional character.
- Yaki Manju焼きまんじゅうsteamed buns skewered and grilled with sweet miso glazeSake-leavened buns skewered and grilled with a sweet miso glaze, said to originate in Maebashi. The fragrant smell drifts from festival stalls at cherry-blossom time and summer fairs, and it is treasured as a Gunma soul food.
- Yakimochiやきもちgriddled wheat dough cakes with miso or vegetable fillingsWheat dough mixed with seasonal vegetables, herbs, miso or soy sauce, shaped and slow-grilled. Eaten as a between-meals snack during farm work, it also goes by names like oyaki or jiriyaki depending on the area.
- Zakuniざく煮finely diced root vegetables and dried squid simmered without oilA Takasaki soup resembling kenchin-jiru but made without oil, using dried squid for stock instead. It appears at New Year, Setsubun, the Ebisu harvest festival and weddings.
- Gyutenぎゅうてんan okonomiyaki-like oval snack pressed flat on the griddle"Gyuten," a working-class dish from Kiryu, Gunma, is an okonomiyaki-like batter of flour mixed with cabbage and scallion, pressed into an oval on the griddle — its name is said to come from pressing it down "gyu" against the pan.
- Hana Ingen no Nimame花いんげんの煮豆sweet-simmered scarlet runner beans from the highlandsLarge scarlet runner beans, grown only in the highlands above 900 meters, gently simmered with sugar and salt. Made from dried beans and easy to keep, it appears at festivals and in New Year spreads.
- Joshu Kinpira上州きんぴらstir-fried burdock and pork with thick-cut root vegetablesA kinpira stir-fry of thick-cut burdock with pork, carrot, shiitake and konjac, devised for Gunma's 1983 national sports meet. The chunky burdock is meant to evoke the prefecture's three sacred mountains.
- Joshu Ota Yakisoba上州太田焼きそばFactory-town yakisoba carried in by postwar migrant workers from TohokuMigrant workers from Tohoku, drawn to the town's aircraft-then-Subaru factories after the war, are said to have brought their home region's yakisoba culture with them. Stalls lined the approach to Daikoin temple, and the dish stuck as cheap, filling food for factory workers.
- Kiryu Himokawa Udon桐生ひもかわうどんribbon-wide wheat noodles from a weaving townKiryu's himokawa udon can run wider than ten centimeters in a single ribbon, less slurped than caught on the tongue. Dipped in a soy-based broth, it's said to be one product of Gunma's long-standing flour-food culture.
- Koshine Jiruこしね汁miso soup of konjac, shiitake and leek named for its ingredientsA soup named from the initials of konjac, shiitake and negi, devised by Tomioka's women's association. It concentrates the harvest of a town that shifted from silk to farming near the World Heritage Tomioka Silk Mill.
- Mizusawa Udon水沢うどんSpringy temple-town noodles from Ikaho, GunmaSaid to have begun as noodles served to pilgrims outside Mizusawa Kannon temple in Gunma. The thin, translucent noodles are dipped in soy- or sesame-based sauce.
- Namazu no Tempuraなまずの天ぷらdeep-fried catfish from Itakura's waterwaysA specialty of Itakura, a town ringed by the Tone and Watarase rivers and known as Gunma's water country. Catfish is fried skin-on into a mild, fluffy-fleshed dish that carries on the river-fish trade the town once ran.
- OkkirikomiおっきりこみGunma's home-style noodle stew, cooked raw straight into the brothThe dish grew out of Gunma's tradition of silk farming and wheat-flour cooking. Wide, flat noodles go straight into the pot without pre-boiling, simmered together with vegetables, and the flour that washes off them thickens the broth as it cooks. It is one of the dishes named to the agriculture ministry's list of 100 notable regional foods.
- Onsen Manju温泉饅頭Steamed buns and baked sweetsa steamed bun colored and flavored to suit a hot-spring resortA steamed bun with a wrapper darkened with brown sugar, wrapped around sweet bean paste. The "yunohana manju" of Ikaho Onsen is said to be one of its originators, its brown color echoing the hue of the hot spring's water, and it is said to have spread as a souvenir across hot-spring resorts nationwide.
- Tatebayashi Udon館林うどんkamatama noodles from a hundred-year wheat townTatebayashi is an udon town built around a local heritage wheat called Hyakunen Komugi, best known for kamatama udon — noodles tossed with egg straight from the pot. It's one corner of Gunma's wheat-growing, flour-eating identity.
- Tomo Tenobe Ramen東毛手延べラーメンShoyu — soy saucehand-pulled noodles from eastern Gunma's Tomo districtA ramen from Gunma's Tomo district in the east of the prefecture, its noodles pulled by hand like somen rather than cut. A shop in Ota City is said to be the original, pairing a noodle prized for its slip over its bite with a flat, old-fashioned, light soy broth.
Raised here2
- Joshu Gyu上州牛a cross of Japanese Black and dairy stock raised on clear mountain waterA cross of Japanese Black and dairy cattle, raised semi-free-range across Gunma's hills on clear mountain water — said to firm up the lean meat and deepen its umami.
- Joshu Mugi-buta上州麦豚barley-fed pork under Gunma's unified quality markRaised on a formula feed high in barley and free of animal protein, under Gunma's unified brand-pork framework that gathers several local names together. Said to give a mild, clean flavor.