Place
Hiroshima
広島県
50 items
● 44 born here(Anago Meshi, Azuma, Bishu Nabe, and more) / ● 3 raised here(Higashihiroshima Koi Jidori, Hiroshima Gyu, Setouchi Rokkoku-buta) / ● 3 prepared here(Hiroshima no Sake, Hiroshimana-zuke, Moshio) / ○ 2 known for it here
Born here44
- Anago Meshiあなご飯grilled conger eel laid over broth-cooked rice at MiyajimaConger eel, grilled kabayaki-style, is sliced and layered over rice cooked in dashi—a dish from Miyajima. It uses "Seto anago," prized for the fat that fast currents help build into the fish, and is said to have begun in 1901 as a bento sold at Miyajimaguchi station.
- Azumaあずまhand-formed sushi using vinegared okara in place of riceSardine-like mamakari, cured in vinegar, is pressed onto seasoned okara instead of vinegared rice in this coastal sushi. It is said to have begun as a way to stretch scarce rice by substituting the cheap, plentiful soy pulp, and was served at festivals and New Year's gatherings.
- Bishu Nabe美酒鍋Mizutaki & chiri (light broth)sake-simmered chicken and pork hot pot of the brewers' townChicken, gizzard, and pork are simmered with nothing more than salt, pepper, and sake in this hot pot from Saijo, one of Japan's noted brewing towns. It is said to have begun as a simple meal cooked by sake brewers between batches, seasoned lightly so as not to dull their palate for tasting.
- Ebamaki江波巻きnori rolls of rice and Hiroshima-na pickle for seaweed fishermenRice is tossed with Hiroshima-na pickle, bonito flakes, and sesame, then rolled in toasted nori—a roll from Hiroshima's Eba district, long known for seaweed cultivation. The ends are sometimes tucked shut so it can be eaten one-handed while rowing, a food born for nori fishermen working on the water.
- Fuchu-yaki府中焼きHiroshima-style okonomiyaki with ground meat worked into the batterA Fuchu, Hiroshima take on okonomiyaki that swaps sliced pork belly for ground beef or pork worked right into the batter, so the meat's flavor is said to come through evenly in every bite.
- Gansuがんすbreaded fried fish cakeFish paste coated in panko and fried, a Kure, Hiroshima specialty. Said to have been devised in the postwar 1940s as a way to use leftover fish paste from kamaboko production, an unusual pairing of fried fish cake and cutlet-style crumb.
- Gyohan魚飯flaked grilled fish and rice topped with a bone-based brothFlaked grilled white fish, egg crepe, and shrimp are arranged over rice, then doused in a broth made from the fish's own bones—a dish from Takehara, a town once wealthy on salt production. Nearly lost, it was reconstructed decades later from an old newspaper clipping after salt farming ended.
- Hassun八寸a mixed simmered dish of chicken, fish trim, and root vegetablesA simmered dish of chicken, fish trimmings, and root vegetables that began, it is said, when a fish seller was invited to cook for gatherings of Jodo Shinshu households. Custom dictates odd numbers of ingredients in a red bowl for celebrations, even numbers in black for funerals.
- Hiroshima Ramen広島ラーメンTonkotsu — pork bonepork broth softened with soy sauce and vegetablesA pork-bone base rounded out with soy sauce and vegetables for a softer finish.
- Hiroshima Kaki Ramen広島牡蠣ラーメンShio — salta salt broth built on oyster liquorA Hiroshima ramen with a salt broth simmered from oyster liquor, topped with sautéed or steamed oysters. Said to fold the seafood of a region famous for oyster farming into a bowl of Chinese noodle soup.
- Nina煮菜shredded daikon pan-simmered with fried tofu and dried sardineShredded daikon is pan-cooked with fried tofu, leek, and dried sardine in soy sauce, using only the moisture the vegetables release—a quick, everyday Fukuyama side dish. Despite the name meaning "simmered greens," it is closer to a stir-fry, prized by busy farm households for how fast it comes together.
- Ohira大平a broth-rich simmered dish served in a wide shallow bowlChicken and root vegetables such as taro and lotus root are cut into large chunks and simmered in a broth eaten right along with the dish, served in the wide, shallow bowl that gives it its name. An odd number of ingredients is kept for luck at festivals and New Year gatherings in Otake.
- Hiroshima Okonomiyaki広島お好み焼きHiroshima-style okonomiyaki — cabbage, pork, and noodles steamed in layersHiroshima's layered style: a thin batter spread first, then piled high with cabbage, pork, and soba or udon noodles, steamed, and flipped onto a sheet of egg. The prefecture is said to have more shops per capita than anywhere else in Japan, and locals often eat it as a late-night closer.
- Shirunashi Tantanmen汁無し担々麺Besides shoyu, miso, shio and tonkotsuHiroshima Shirunashi Tantanmen — no-broth noodles numbed with Sichuan pepperA Hiroshima take on tantanmen with almost no broth, numbed with sansho and Sichuan peppercorn. Diners are expected to stir it thoroughly before eating, and it's said to trace back to a shop owner who studied Sichuan cooking firsthand.
- Takomeshiたこめしrice cooked with octopus, a fisherman's meal from MiharaFishermen once chopped up freshly caught octopus and cooked it right into their rice on board—the origin, it is said, of this Mihara dish. Fast currents off Mihara give the octopus thick, taut legs, and the meat is simmered into rice with burdock and carrot in a soy-seasoned broth.
- Hiroshima Tsukemen広島つけ麺Shoyu — soy saucechilled noodles dipped in a spicy soy sauceChilled Chinese noodles dipped into a spicy soy-based sauce — a tsukemen said to have originated in Hiroshima. Boiled vegetables and a boiled egg are served alongside, and one account traces it to a Chinese restaurant in Hachobori, now a fixture of the city's noodle culture.
- Uzumiうずみvegetables and seafood hidden beneath rice, ladled with brothSimmered taro, shrimp, and sea bream sit in a bowl hidden under a mound of rice in this Fukuyama dish. It is said to date to the Edo period, when diners tucked good ingredients beneath plain rice to appear modest, and it later became a way to mark the autumn harvest.
- Igamochiいが餅steamed rice-flour dumplings crowned with colored sticky riceSweet azuki paste is wrapped in a rice-flour dough and topped with sticky rice grains dyed pink or green, then steamed—a confection from Kure. One story behind the name likens the studded top to a chestnut bur, and it is still sold hot off the steamer at festival stalls around Kameyama Shrine's autumn rites.
- Igisu Dofuイギス豆腐a firm seaweed jelly set with soybean flour, no gelatin neededA red seaweed called igisu is simmered with raw soybean flour until it sets on its own into a firm, agar-like jelly. Served with vinegared miso or ginger soy sauce, it was often made in Setouchi coastal towns when relatives gathered for Obon or local festivals.
- In-okoいんおこan udon-forward Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki from Innoshima"In-oko," from Innoshima in Onomichi, Hiroshima, is an okonomiyaki built around udon. On this island of shipbuilding and citrus groves, the udon-forward style is said to have taken hold as something eaten as both a noodle dish and a light meal.
- Kaki Meshiかき飯rice cooked with Hiroshima Bay oysters and root vegetablesOysters, seared briefly with sake, are cooked into rice together with carrot, burdock, and fried tofu in this dish from Etajima, an island known for oyster farming. The oysters are said to taste richest from December to February, when they store the most flavor-giving glycogen.
- Kaki no Dotenabeかきの土手鍋Miso-basedoyster hot pot with a miso levee around the rimRed and white miso are spread like an embankment around the rim of a clay pot, to be crumbled in bit by bit as the broth simmers with plump Hiroshima Bay oysters. Calm currents and river nutrients flowing into the bay are said to give the oysters their size and depth of flavor.
- Kaki Zoniかき雑煮New Year's mochi soup built on Hiroshima Bay oystersRound mochi, oyster, and yellowtail go into a clear broth of dried sardine and kelp in this New Year's soup from around Hiroshima Bay. Yellowtail traditionally comes from the leftover half of a fish sliced for sashimi at year's end, while the oyster's name puns on "raking in" good fortune.
- Kaku Zushi角寿司box-pressed sushi layered with seasoned vegetables insideVinegared rice and toppings are packed into a square wooden mold and pressed into shape in this dish from Hiroshima's Geihoku mountains. Colorful mackerel and egg crepe sit on top, while root vegetables simmered a little saltier hide inside, giving the flavor a shift partway through eating.
- Kinako Musubiきなこむすびrice balls with pickled plum, dusted in toasted soy flourRice balls stuffed with pickled plum or salted kelp are dusted thickly in toasted soybean flour, eaten during breaks from rice planting. Still served at the Mibu no Hanataue festival, a UNESCO-listed rice-planting rite, the round shape is said to carry a wish for a bountiful autumn.
- Koiwashi no Sashimi小いわしの刺身raw anchovy eaten with soy sauce and grated gingerAnchovy that grow plump on Hiroshima Bay's rich plankton are eaten raw with soy sauce and grated ginger, a summer taste of Kure. Freshness is everything with this fish, so households traditionally clean and slice it themselves as soon as it appears in shops during its June-to-August peak.
- Fuwafuwa Natto-yakiふわふわ納豆焼Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki with natto and mountain yamKumano-cho, Hiroshima's "Fuwafuwa Natto-yaki" folds natto, egg, and grated mountain yam into the okonomiyaki batter for a soft, fluffy result — stacking sticky ingredients for a texture no other Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki has, it's said.
- Kure no Nikujaga呉の肉じゃがmeat-and-potato stew tied to the Imperial Navy's messMeakin potatoes, beef, shirataki noodles, and onion are simmered sweet and savory in this Kure dish. It traces back, by local account, to Admiral Togo Heihachiro's attempt to recreate the beef stew he ate while studying in Britain as a shipboard meal for the old Imperial Navy.
- Kure Reimen呉冷麺Hiroshima's cold noodle that is really a chilled ramen, not a naengmyeonChinrai-ken, which began as a postwar street stall on Kure's Nakadori, created the dish in 1955 as a successor to its signature wonton noodles. Using ordinary Chinese-noodle-shop noodles would have made it hiyashi chuka rather than something new, so the shop had a chewy, custom flat noodle made and paired it with a broth built for sweetness and a little heat, with the sourness dialed back.
- Kure-yaki呉焼きHiroshima-style okonomiyaki folded into a half-moonA Kure, Hiroshima specialty that uses the city's thin local udon in an okonomiyaki folded into a half-moon, said to have taken that shape so shipyard workers could eat it quickly on a break.
- Kuwai no Amaniくわいの甘煮arrowhead tubers simmered sweet for New Year'sBlue arrowhead tubers—their deep indigo skin earning them the nickname "sapphire of the paddies"—are simmered sweet in dashi, sugar, and gardenia fruit for color. Because a sprout pushes visibly from the tuber, it is treated as a wish for new beginnings and served in New Year's osechi trays.
- Mihara-yaki三原焼きHiroshima-style okonomiyaki with chicken gibletsMihara, Hiroshima's okonomiyaki adds chicken giblets to the fillings, said to reflect a town where poultry farming once thrived, giving the usual noodle-and-cabbage stack a chewy offal layer too.
- Miyoshi Karamen-yaki三次唐麺焼Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki with chili-kneaded noodlesMiyoshi, Hiroshima's "Miyoshi Karamen-yaki" uses noodles kneaded with chili pepper for a spicy okonomiyaki, said to reflect the taste this inland basin town, with its wide swings in temperature, developed for its food.
- Mobiriもぶりrice mixed with simmered root vegetables and black beansNamed for the Hiroshima dialect word "moburu" (to mix), this rice is tossed with simmered burdock, shiitake, and black beans. In Otake and nearby towns it was formerly rolled into large rice balls and handed out at farm breaks and celebrations such as house-raisings.
- Nebuto no Karaageねぶとの唐揚げdeep-fried small cardinalfish from the Seto Inland SeaSmall cardinalfish called nebuto, just three to five centimeters long and caught in the Seto Inland Sea, are dusted with potato starch, deep-fried, and salted. Their heads are removed first since the bone there is too hard to eat, and the crisp result is a favorite snack for both children and drinkers.
- Nigome煮ごめa Jodo Shinshu memorial-day stew of azuki beans and vegetablesRoot vegetables such as daikon and burdock are diced small and simmered with azuki beans in this meatless dish. Traditionally cooked for Otanya, the eve of the founder Shinran's memorial day, it is reheated and eaten over three days without any meat or fish, a custom of the region's Jodo Shinshu households.
- Onomichi Ramen尾道ラーメンShoyu — soy saucesoy broth with small-fish stock and floating pork fatA soy-sauce broth stocked with small fish from the Seto Inland Sea, dotted with pork back fat. Served with flat, straight noodles.
- Onomichi-yaki尾道焼きHiroshima-style okonomiyaki with chicken gizzard and fried squid cakeAn Onomichi, Hiroshima okonomiyaki that adds chicken gizzard and a fried squid-paste cake to the usual fillings — a port town's mix of poultry offal and a seafood product, said to reflect what was close at hand.
- Shobara-yaki庄原焼きHiroshima-style okonomiyaki with rice instead of noodlesAn okonomiyaki from inland Shobara, Hiroshima, that swaps the usual noodles for local rice and the usual sauce for ponzu — a rice-growing inland town's answer to the noodle-and-sauce style of the coast.
- Taimen鯛めん／鯛そうめんsomen noodles topped with a whole simmered sea breamA whole sea bream, lightly simmered in soy sauce, is laid atop boiled somen noodles for celebratory meals. The bream evokes the word "medetai" (auspicious) and the long noodle strands suggest lasting good fortune, making the dish a fixture at Seto Inland Sea weddings and house-raisings.
- Taimeshi鯛めしwhole sea bream cooked into rice by Seto Inland Sea fishermenA whole sea bream, scaled and gutted, is set into the pot and cooked together with the rice—a fisherman's dish from the Seto Inland Sea. The area's rocky seabed and currents suit bream spawning, and the dish is tied to the roughly 380-year-old tai-shibari net fishery of Tomonoura.
- Junmai Ginjo Takehara-yaki純米吟醸たけはら焼きTakehara-yaki — Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki with sake lees kneaded into the batterTakehara, Hiroshima's "Junmai Ginjo Takehara-yaki" kneads sake lees and sake straight into the batter — a sake town's way of carrying its local breweries' aroma into the batter itself.
- Wakegi no Nutaわけぎのぬたbunching onion dressed in sweet white miso and vinegarMild, sweet bunching onion is dressed with white miso, sugar, and vinegar. Because its bulb splits and multiplies on its own, the vegetable is treated as a symbol of fertility, and around Onomichi—a well-known producer—the dish is said to appear at the Girls' Festival in spring.
- Wani no Sashimiワニの刺身thin-sliced mountain shark eaten with ginger soy sauceIn Hiroshima's mountainous Bihoku area, small shark—locally called "wani"—is sliced thin and eaten raw with ginger and soy sauce. Far from the coast, the long-keeping fish once filled the gap where fresh seafood rarely reached, and it is said to still appear at autumn festivals and New Year.
Raised here3
- Higashihiroshima Koi Jidori東広島こい地鶏Hiroshima's only branded jidoriSaid to have been introduced in 2021 from a cross of Kodai-dori, a rooster bred through joint research by Hiroshima University and Higashihiroshima city, and a Rhode Island Red hen — reportedly the prefecture's only branded jidori, free-ranged for about 130 days.
- Hiroshima Gyu広島牛finished in the cool climate of Hiroshima's northern Chugoku mountainsJapanese Black raised in the mild climate of the Chugoku mountains in northern Hiroshima — said to have fine muscle fiber and modest fat; only cattle raised longest within the prefecture may bear the name.
- Setouchi Rokkoku-buta瀬戸内六穀豚pork on a six-grain feed for a milder aromaRaised on a feed blending six grains — corn, milo, rice, barley, wheat and soy — at HACCP-compliant farms in Hiroshima that handle the pigs from birth to finish. Said to give sweet fat with a light finish.
Prepared here3
- Hiroshima no Sake広島の酒Hiroshima sake — the soft-water brewing method behind ginjoHiroshima sake, built on a soft-water brewing method said to have overcome the weakness of mineral-poor water, which once made sake prone to spoiling, by building up robust koji and fermenting slowly at low temperature — a technique said to have gone on to influence the birth of ginjo sake.
- Hiroshimana-zuke広島菜漬けa mild, faintly peppery leaf pickle grown only around HiroshimaA mild leaf pickle made from hiroshimana, a napa-cabbage relative grown only around Hiroshima. Low in fiber and crisp to bite into, it has long been cultivated on the fertile sandbar land of the Ota River delta.
- Moshio藻塩ancient seaweed-brined salt revived on Kamagari IslandA salt named for an ancient technique of soaking seaweed (hondawara) in seawater and burning it to extract salt. The method was reconstructed in 1998 after fragments of Kofun-era salt-making pottery were found on Kamagari Island in Kure, Hiroshima, and it is known as the technique referenced in the Man'yoshu poetry anthology.
Known for it here4
- Magaki真牡蠣Known sourcethe winter oyster, farmed in calm baysThe winter oyster, mostly farmed. Hiroshima alone grows some 60% of Japan's crop, with Miyagi and Okayama following.
- MebaruメバルWhite fishrockfish — a bulge-eyed fish that signals springA large-eyed fish of rocky reefs, said to herald spring. Traditionally simmered until the seasoning reaches the bone — areas facing well-flushed rocky grounds like the Seto Inland Sea have woven it deeply into local food culture.The rocky reefs of the Seto Inland Sea form prime habitat, and Hiroshima has designated mebaru its official prefectural fish.
- Kaki FryカキフライKnown sourcebreaded fried oysterShucked oysters breaded in panko and fried. In Hiroshima, one of Japan's leading oyster regions, it's said to be an everyday homestyle dish, while outside the prefecture it's treated as a seasonal treat at tonkatsu shops.Hiroshima is one of Japan's leading oyster-producing prefectures, where kaki fry is said to have stayed a homestyle dish made at home rather than eaten out.
- Okonomiyakiお好み焼きa savory wheat-flour pancake loaded with cabbage and porkA savory pancake of wheat-flour batter loaded with cabbage and pork, cooked on a griddle. Osaka mixes everything into the batter before it hits the pan, while Hiroshima layers the ingredients and steams them — the technique itself is said to split by region.Hiroshima Prefecture is said to have more okonomiyaki shops per 100,000 people than anywhere else in Japan (per the 2014 Economic Census), and its layered style has become the region's own signature.