Place
Nagasaki
長崎県
39 items
● 35 born here(Goto Udon, Hanahajiki, Hatoshi, and more) / ● 2 raised here(Nagasaki Wagyu, Nagasaki Tsushima Jidori) / ● 2 prepared here(Arumado, Iki Shochu) / ○ 2 known for it here
Born here35
- Goto Udon五島うどんThin hand-pulled noodles made with island camellia oilA hand-pulled noodle from Shinkamigoto, Nagasaki. Its technique is thought to trace back to envoys returning from Tang China, and the island's camellia oil is worked into the dough for a smooth, elastic bite.
- Hanahajiki鼻はじきjulienned vegetables and shrimp fanned on a plate and dipped in hot mustard vinegar-misoCucumber, carrot, deep-fried tofu, and shrimp are cut into strips and fanned out on a plate to be dipped in a hot mustard vinegar-miso — a dish from Isahaya said to be named for how the mustard "flicks the nose," traditionally served at Buddhist memorial services.
- Hatoshiハトシshrimp paste sandwich fritterShrimp and squid paste sandwiched in bread and deep-fried, a Nagasaki specialty said to have arrived from China in the Meiji era, growing from a shippoku banquet course into a food loved across the city.
- Hikadoヒカドa soy-seasoned stew of fish or chicken and root vegetables, thickened with grated sweet potatoFish or chicken and vegetables like daikon and carrot are diced fine and simmered, thickened at the end with grated sweet potato — said to originate in a meat stew eaten by Portuguese residents of Nagasaki, its name from the Portuguese word for "minced."
- Hikitoshiひきとおしa home-raised chicken hot pot thickened with iki-doufu and somenChicken raised at home is butchered for this Iki hot pot, typically enriched with iki-doufu, a rich local tofu, and firm-boiled somen — said to have begun as a dish served to guests in the inner parlor, its name tracing to "hiki-toshi," leading a guest through.
- Agodashi RamenあごだしラーメンShoyu — soy sauceflying-fish stock from the islands off HiradoA ramen said to have started on Ikitsuki island off Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture. A soy-based broth built on grilled and dried flying-fish stock, eaten across a wider stretch of Nagasaki where agodashi is part of everyday cooking.
- Igirisuいぎりすdissolved igisu seaweed set into a jelly block with mixed vegetables and peanutsDried igisu seaweed is dissolved and poured over mixed ingredients like wood ear mushroom, tofu, and carrot to set into a firm, agar-like block — said to be rooted in Imabari's igisu-doufu, brought by settlers who moved from Shikoku after the Shimabara Rebellion.
- Iriyakiいりやきa Tsushima hot pot of home-raised chicken or local fish, its broth finished with soba or somenHome-raised chicken or fresh local fish is simmered in camellia oil for this hot pot, said to have been made for guests at celebrations and services. After the solids are eaten, the broth is traditionally finished with local taishu soba noodles or somen.
- Keihan鶏飯Isahaya keihan — a simple mixed rice of chicken traditionally cooked by the men of the houseChicken raised at home is butchered and cooked simply with rice into a mixed dish — passed down in Isahaya's Medai district, traditionally made by the men of the household at New Year and Obon, and also called "toimeshi" from a local word for chicken.
- Jigokudaki地獄炊き（五島うどん・島原そうめん）Jigoku-daki — five island udon or Shimabara somen boiled and eaten straight from an iron pot with flying-fish dashiDried five-island udon noodles are boiled bubbling in an iron pot and dipped in ago-dashi, a broth made from flying fish — a way of eating this Goto specialty noodle, said by one theory to have arrived with envoys to Tang China; Shimabara somen is enjoyed hot the same way.
- Kankoro Mochiかんころ餅sun-dried sweet potato slices pounded together with glutinous riceSweet potato is sliced thin, sun-dried into "kankoro," and pounded together with glutinous rice into a mochi — said to have been made at home across the Goto islands as a winter keeping food that stretched costly rice to feed the whole family.
- Kanzarashiかんざらしsmall rice-flour dumplings chilled in spring water and drizzled with sweet syrupSmall dumplings made from rice flour are chilled in Shimabara's spring water and drizzled with a sugar or honey syrup — said to make use of groundwater that began welling up after the 1792 Shimabara disaster, once a summer sweet reserved for entertaining guests.
- KasuteraカステラSteamed buns and baked sweetsa tall, dense sponge cake introduced from Portugal via NagasakiA tall, dense sponge cake made from just wheat flour, egg, sugar, and starch syrup. Said to descend from a nanban confection brought to Nagasaki from Portugal in the 16th century, later reworked by Nagasaki's confectioners to suit Japanese taste.
- Kujira Jaga鯨じゃがa nikujaga-style stew of salted whale meat, potato, and onionStore-bought salted whale meat is simmered with potato, onion, and shirataki noodles into a nikujaga-style stew — said to have emerged from Nagasaki's whaling culture, centered on Sonogi, once the dish of simmered meat and potato itself became common in the modern era.
- Kuritsuboくりつぼchicken and root vegetables simmered sweet with candied chestnutsChicken thigh and root vegetables like carrot, lotus root, and taro are simmered in barley miso or soy alongside candied chestnuts — a dish from Kawatana and Higashisonogi named, it's said, for its chestnuts (kuri) and the bowl it's served in (tsubo), traditionally festival fare.
- Morobuta Zushi押し寿司（もろぶた寿司）pressed sushi made in a shallow wooden box, sandwiching sea bream between layers of riceRice and fillings are layered and pressed in a shallow wooden box called a morobuta into a firm block of sushi — said to share its origin with Omura-zushi, always including sea bream caught near Sasa and finished slightly sweeter than its Omura cousin.
- Nagasaki Champon長崎ちゃんぽんThe founding dish of Japan's champon noodle family, born in 1899 NagasakiIn 1899, Chen Ping-shun, a Fujian-born restaurateur who founded Shikairo, devised the dish as a cheap, nutritious noodle meal for the Chinese students and residents of Meiji-era Nagasaki. He never trademarked the name, letting it spread freely to other kitchens across the city.
- Nagasaki Milk Seeki長崎ミルクセーキNagasaki milk seiki — a spoon-eaten frozen dessert of milk, egg, and crushed iceMilk, egg, sugar, and crushed ice are blended into a sherbet-like frozen dessert eaten with a spoon — said to have begun in the late Taisho or early Showa era at Nagasaki's Tsuruchan cafe, devised to help customers through the summer heat.
- Nagasaki Tempura長崎天ぷらfish and vegetables in a sweetened batter, eaten without dipping sauceFish and vegetables are coated in a wheat batter sweetened with sugar and sake, then fried crisp into something closer to a fritter than standard tempura — said to descend from a seasoned-batter fry eaten by Portuguese traders, eaten plain since the batter itself carries the flavor.
- Nuppeぬっぺroot vegetables and konnyaku simmered with chicken into a thick, starch-bound stewTaro and other root vegetables, konnyaku, deep-fried tofu, and chicken are simmered into a thickened stew — passed down in Isahaya, said to have been served as a vegetarian dish at Buddhist memorial services, part of a family of "noppe" dishes found across Japan.
- Obama Champon小浜ちゃんぽんNagasaki-rooted champon that crossed the bay to a hot-spring townA ferry route once linked Nagasaki's Mogi port with Obama's harbor, carrying a steady stream of visitors drawn to the hot springs. Champon is said to have taken root here through that everyday traffic, and it is now served at roughly ten shops around the onsen town.
- Piinattsu Doufuピーナッツ豆腐Ojika peanut tofu — ground peanuts bound with kudzu starch into a firm, chilled blockPeanuts grown on the island are ground and bound with kudzu starch into a firm block — a specialty of Ojika Island said to make a savory side with yuzu miso or a sweet with black syrup and sugared soybean flour, built on peanuts raised in red soil and sea wind.
- NigomiにごみOmura nigomi — chicken, peanuts, and root vegetables diced small and simmered togetherChicken, peanuts, deep-fried tofu, and root vegetables are all diced to about a centimeter and simmered sweet — a dish from peanut-growing Omura said to date to Edo-era hospitality meals, its fine dicing perhaps a way to waste nothing.
- Omura-zushi大村寿司pressed sushi shaped for troops with too few plates to go aroundWhite fish crumble, dried gourd shavings, and shredded egg layered and pressed in a wooden frame — a sushi from Omura, Nagasaki, said to trace to troops fed after retaking their castle. Its rice carries a gentle sweetness.
- Pasutiiパスティーa chicken-and-mushroom stew baked under a pie crust, its name from the Portuguese for pieChicken, mountain yam, and shiitake simmered in chicken broth are piled into a bowl, topped with a pie crust, and baked — said to have arrived from Dutch traders at Dejima during the isolation era, mixing Chinese-influenced ingredients with a Japanese-style seasoning.
- Rokubeeろくべえ／六兵衛noodles made from sweet potato starch, served in a clear dashi brothSweet potato starch bound with grated mountain yam is shaped into thick noodles and served in a clear broth — said to have been devised by a man named Rokubee in Fukae village after the 1792 Mount Mayu collapse triggered a famine, using preserved sweet potato flour.
- Sara Udon皿うどんnoodles fried and topped with a thick vegetable-and-meat sauce, eaten with vinegar and Worcester sauceUsing the same toppings as champon, thick noodles are fried until dry or crisp thin noodles are draped in a mixed-vegetable gravy — said to have begun in 1899, when the same restaurant owner who created champon made a broth-free version of it.
- Remon SutekiレモンステーキSasebo lemon steak — thin-sliced beef seared and finished with a lemon-soy sauceBeef sliced thin is seared on a griddle and finished with a lemon-spiked soy sauce — said to have begun around 1955 in Sasebo, where American steak had caught on around the postwar U.S. naval base, when two brothers at a Western-style restaurant adapted it to local taste.
- Guzoni具雑煮／島原具雑煮Shimabara guzoni — a hearty New Year's mochi soup cooked and served in its own earthen potRound mochi, chicken, napa cabbage, root vegetables, and freeze-dried tofu are simmered together in broth in an earthenware pot and served straight from it — a hearty New Year's soup said to trace back to besieged rebels eating provisions and local produce during the Shimabara Rebellion.
- Shimabara Tenobe Somen島原手延そうめんNagasaki noodles rooted in the resettlement after the Shimabara RebellionAfter the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637 sharply reduced the local population, settlers brought in under the shogunate's resettlement policy are credited with introducing somen-making to the area. Accounts of where the technique came from vary — Shodoshima and Miwa are both named — and no document has settled the question, though the area took shape as a production center in the early 1800s.
- Taishu Soba対州そばsmall-grained buckwheat from an isolated islandA small-grained heirloom buckwheat from Tsushima, Nagasaki. Isolation on the island is said to have kept crossbreeding low and preserved traits close to the wild ancestor, giving the noodle a firm bite and a faint bitterness. In 2018 it became the first soba registered under Japan's GI system.
- Tsubojiruつぼ汁a meatless soup of tofu, burdock, and konnyaku served at Buddhist memorial mealsFirm tofu, burdock, dried shiitake, and konnyaku are cut fine and simply seasoned with soy, salt, and sugar into a meatless soup — passed down in Yukiura, Saikai, said to be served at Buddhist memorial meals, its name from the bowl it's served in, likened to a tsubo jar.
- Toruko RaisuトルコライスRice dishesTurkey rice — pilaf, napolitan-style spaghetti, and a pork cutlet on one platePilaf, napolitan-style spaghetti, and a pork cutlet plated together, a yoshoku dish from Nagasaki. Its name has several competing origin stories, from a Turkish rice dish to the plate's three colors.
- Urakami Soboro浦上ソボロpork sliced thin and stir-fried with fried kamaboko and vegetablesThinly sliced pork is stir-fried with fried kamaboko, shirataki noodles, and bean sprouts. Said to date to the late 1500s, when missionaries introduced it to Christian converts unaccustomed to eating meat, framing it as good for their health.
- Yudehoshi Daikon to Kanboko no Nimono茹で干し大根とかんぼこの煮物boiled-then-dried daikon simmered with local fried fish cakeDaikon is cut into strips, boiled, then sun-dried on a cliffside drying rack into "yudehoshi daikon," simmered with kanboko, Nagasaki's name for its local kamaboko — a Saikai dish said to turn less bitter and soak up seasoning more readily for having been boiled before drying.
Raised here2
- Nagasaki Wagyu長崎和牛raised where sea breezes cross a coastline of peninsulas and islandsJapanese Black raised by registered producers across Nagasaki — a prefecture of peninsulas and remote islands, where the natural environment, including pasture reached by sea breeze, is said to shape the fattening.
- Nagasaki Tsushima Jidori長崎対馬地どりTsushima Jidori — a near-vanished island fowl once used to entertain envoysSaid to be bred from a native Tsushima fowl, reportedly once used to entertain Korean diplomatic envoys, introduced and improved by a prefectural research station and crossed with a shamo-descended line; reportedly reared 110 days or more.
Prepared here2
- Arumadoアルマドa Hirado kamaboko log with a hard-boiled egg dyed pink at its coreA hard-boiled egg dyed pink is wrapped in fish paste and steamed into a kamaboko log that shows a pink-rimmed cross-section when cut — a Hirado specialty, with kin dishes called "arimado" in Sasebo and "ryugan" in Nagasaki.
- Iki Shochu壱岐焼酎BarleyNagasaki's GI-designated barley spiritThe name reserved for barley shochu mashed with water from Iki Island in Nagasaki and distilled and bottled on the island itself. A rough ratio of two parts barley to one part rice koji is said to have traditionally been used, and Iki is known as the birthplace of mugi-jochu.
Known for it here7
- HiramasaヒラマサWhite fishKnown sourceyellowtail amberjack — a summer fish valued above buri by many chefsSimilar in shape to yellowtail but taller-bodied and flatter, at its best in summer. Strongly migratory, it is mostly taken around Kuroshio-adjacent islands, and some sushi chefs rank its texture above buri.
- IwashiイワシBlue-backed fishKnown sourcesardine — a small, oil-rich fish central to everyday cooking and dashiA small, schooling blue-backed fish eaten raw, simmered with plum, or as tsumire dumplings. Its fat quality tracks the tidal boundary it feeds along, and ports facing where cold and warm currents meet land the most — dried, it becomes niboshi dashi stock.
- TobiuoトビウオBlue-backed fishflying fish — a lean summer fish that leaps from the waterA fish that glides above the waves on outstretched pectoral fins. Its lean white flesh is grilled, and because it spoils fast, coastal towns developed a grill-then-dry method whose product, 'ago', underpins a whole dashi tradition.Facing the Tsushima Current, the island keeps alive the tradition of grilling and drying flying fish into 'yaki-ago' for dashi stock.
- KasagoカサゴWhite fishKnown sourcemarbled rockfish — a spiny, big-headed fish for soup and stewA big-headed fish of rocky reefs whose bones give off a rich stock, so it is often simmered or served whole in clear soup. Sedentary by nature, it varies noticeably by fishing ground and is mostly eaten as a local catch near where it's landed.
- HataハタWhite fishKnown sourcegrouper — a broad family of warm-water fish prized for firm white fleshA broad family of large warm-water fish with firm white flesh suited to hot pot and sashimi. Concentrated in warmer southern waters, it is caught mainly off western Japan, with individual species like kue especially prized.
- Aori IkaアオリイカSquid and octopusKnown sourcea large, translucent squid that ranks among the priciestA large squid whose fin skirts the entire body. Its translucent flesh carries strong sweetness and a thick, dense texture, making it one of the pricier squid at market, best raw as sashimi or sushi, in season summer through autumn.The warm waters shaped by the Tsushima Current are a notable fishing ground.
- Tempura天ぷらbattered and deep-fried seafood and vegetablesSeafood and vegetables battered and deep-fried. Said to trace to a Portuguese-style fritter that arrived in the 16th century, with the style that developed in Edo and the one rooted in Nagasaki differing sharply in how the batter itself is made.As a gateway for trade with the Portuguese, Nagasaki developed its own tempura with sugar and soy sauce mixed directly into the batter, eaten as is without any dipping sauce.