Place
Tokushima
徳島県
35 items
● 30 born here(Amego no Hirarayaki, Awa no Itokoni, Awa Uiro, and more) / ● 3 raised here(Awa Biton, Awa Gyu, Awa Odori-dori) / ● 2 prepared here(Awa Bancha, Gozen miso) / ○ 1 known for it here
Born here30
- Amego no Hirarayakiあめごのひらら焼きtrout and vegetables grilled on a heated stone slabA flat stone is heated over a hearth for hours, then a border of miso is built on it to grill amego trout, stone tofu, and konjac — an outdoor dish from the Iya valley. Its name comes from hirara, a local word for a flat stone, and it is said to have long served as a dish for entertaining guests.
- Awa no Itokoni阿波のいとこ煮dried sweet potato slowly simmered with red beansSweet potato that has been boiled then dried — yude-boshi style — is rehydrated and simmered slowly with red beans for about two hours over low heat. Fitting for a region where drying vegetables is common in winter, it is said to be a warming side dish built on the concentrated flavor of dried sweet potato.
- Awa Uiro阿波ういろa steamed red bean cake sweetened with Awa wasanbon sugarRed bean paste mixed with rice flour and Awa wasanbon sugar is poured into a mold and steamed into a chewy cake. Said to have first been made to celebrate the completion of Awa wasanbon sugar in the Edo period, with related uiro cakes also found in Nagoya and Yamaguchi.
- Ayu Rosui鮎ろうすいa whole river-caught ayu simmered into a miso porridgeA whole river ayu is simmered with summer vegetables like eggplant and potato, rice, and dashi, then seasoned with miso, into a porridge-like dish. Rosui is said to be a local slurring of zosui, made to mark the June opening of ayu fishing season on the clear Katsuura River.
- Boze no Sugata-zushiボウゼの姿寿司whole butterfish sushi shaped for Tokushima's autumn festivalA whole butterfish, locally called boze, butterflied and wrapped around vinegared rice to keep its shape intact — an autumn festival sushi from Tokushima, best made with the freshest, firmest fish.
- Chagome茶ごめrice cooked sweet and brown with roasted fava beansRoasted fava beans and coarse sugar are cooked together with rice, turning the whole pot a light brown. Once eaten in samurai households, it is said to have spread among farming families as a way to use up older fava beans just as the new season's crop came in.
- Denbuでんぶkintoki beans and root vegetables simmered sweet and saltyParboiled kintoki or black beans are simmered with root vegetables like daikon and burdock, then finished sweet and salty in soy sauce and sugar. Said to be added to New Year and house-raising feasts as a wish for a hardworking, diligent life, playing on the word for beans, mame, which also means diligence.
- Handa Somen半田そうめんTokushima's thicker, chewier take on hand-pulled noodlesRiver-boat pilots of the Edo period are said to have carried the technique from Miwa in Nara through Awaji and Naruto into Handa. Because they made it quickly for themselves rather than by strict method, the noodles came out thicker and chewier than standard somen; dry winds off the Tsurugi mountains and the clear water of the Yoshino River give the area conditions suited to the craft.
- Hasuimo no Kuki no Sunomonoはすいもの茎の酢の物crisp taro stems dressed with tachiuo in sweet vinegarThe stem of hasuimo, a taro relative, is dressed together with vinegar-cured cutlassfish in a sweet vinegar seasoned with soy sauce and sugar. Known for its crisp stem texture and refreshing taste, it is said to be an everyday side dish favored in southern Tokushima.
- Hota Yokanほたようかんa steamed brown sugar cake with a spongy, airy crumbA steamed cake made with brown sugar, known for its chewy crumb and gentle sweetness. Named after hota, a local word for the hollow air pockets that form inside, it is said to have spread after being sold at penny-candy shops in the early Showa era.
- Iri Meshiいり飯dried baby sardine mixed into seasoned riceDried baby sardines seasoned with vinegar and soy sauce are mixed into rice along with fish cake, shiitake, and konjac. Said to have been served for over a century in the Saga district of Sanagochi as a thank-you meal after communal work like clearing irrigation channels.
- Ise Ebi no Misoshiru伊勢エビの味噌汁spiny lobster simmered whole into a miso soupSpiny lobster cut into pieces is simmered from cold water, then finished with miso for a home-style soup. Said to make use of agari, lobsters that have lost a leg or whisker and can't be shipped, and served free at a September festival in Minami marking the start of the fishing season.
- Iya Soba祖谷そばShort, thick noodles from a steep mountain valley in ShikokuA thick, binder-free soba from the Iya valley in Miyoshi, Tokushima. In this mountain terrain unsuited to rice, buckwheat's short growing season made it the staple crop.
- Iya no Decomawashi祖谷のでこまわしpotato, tofu, and konjac skewered and grilled with misoSmall potatoes, buckwheat dumplings, stone tofu, and whole konjac are skewered and grilled over a hearth with a miso glaze, turned round and round — a specialty of the Iya valley. Said to take its name from the way turning the skewer resembles the head-turning motion of a deku bunraku puppet.
- Kintoki Mame Barazushi金時豆入りばら寿司scattered sushi mixed with sweet kidney beansKintoki kidney beans simmered sweet in soy sauce and sugar are mixed into vinegared rice along with konjac, carrot, and other seasonal ingredients. Said to have arisen in Tokushima's rice-poor soil as a way to stretch rice with plentiful fillings, served at festivals and seasonal celebrations.
- Naraeならえseven vegetables and fried tofu dressed in a sweet vinegarSeven ingredients — daikon, carrot, fried tofu, and more — are dressed in a three-part vinegar, a dish said to trace back to shojin temple cooking. Its name is thought to be a slurring of Nara-ae, from when Nara pickles were once part of the mix, and it has been served at memorial services and equinox observances.
- Omiisanおみいさんmiso-seasoned rice porridge with daikon and taroRice simmered in dried-sardine dashi is loaded with taro, daikon, and daikon greens, then finished with dissolved miso, into a porridge. Said to have been an everyday dish in leaner times, made to use up leftover rice and miso soup without waste.
- Shusse Imo出世いもsteamed taro or sweet potato wrapped around red bean pasteSteamed taro or sweet potato is shaped into a cylinder, wrapped in sweet red bean paste, and cut into rounds. Said to have been made in Kaiyo Town as a stand-in for ohagi rice cakes in a place where potato once replaced rice, its auspicious name reflects the potato's rise to the status of rice.
- Sobagome Zosuiそば米雑炊buckwheat groats simmered like rice porridge with vegetablesBuckwheat groats — boiled in salted water, hulled, and dried into what's called sobagome — are simmered with chicken, konjac, and vegetables into a porridge-like dish. Said to trace back to Heike clan survivors who took refuge in the rice-poor Iya valley and grew buckwheat there instead.
- Tokushima Ramen徳島ラーメンTonkotsu — pork bonedark pork-and-soy broth served with pork belly and raw eggA dark broth of pork bones and heavy soy sauce, topped with sweet-savoury pork belly. A raw egg is commonly cracked over it.
- Hangoroshi半ごろしTokushima han-goroshi — an ohagi-style rice cake mashed only halfwayGlutinous and non-glutinous rice are cooked together, then mashed only halfway — leaving whole grains — before being wrapped around red bean paste, in this ohagi-like sweet. Named in contrast to minagoroshi, where the rice is mashed completely, han-goroshi meaning mashed only halfway.
- ImomochiいももちTokushima imomochi — sweet potato dough wrapped around red bean pasteBoiled sweet potato is blended with glutinous rice flour into a paste, wrapped around red bean paste, and dusted with roasted soybean flour. Said to have spread widely once sweet potato reached Naruto in the late 19th century, offering an affordable sweetness for ordinary households.
- Shima Somen島そうめんsomen noodles served in the broth of simmered sea breamRenko sea bream caught off Deshima island is simmered sweet and salty, and the leftover broth is used in place of noodle dipping sauce for somen, in this dish from Mugi Town. Said to be indispensable at festivals, weddings, and banquets, born of a wish not to waste even the simmering liquid.
- Shiromiso Zoni白味噌雑煮Tokushima shiromiso zoni — a New Year zoni finished with sweet white misoDaikon and taro are simmered in dried-sardine and kelp dashi, joined by rice cake, fish cake, and greens, then finished with dissolved white miso, for a New Year zoni. Said to be a widely eaten style among Tokushima's many distinct regional zoni, which also include the Iya valley's tofu-topped uchigae zoni.
- Taimeshi鯛めしrice cooked with a whole sea bream caught off NarutoNaruto tai, a sea bream firmed up by the whirlpools of the Naruto Strait, is cooked whole or in pieces together with rice. Prized for how the rice absorbs the fish's flavor, it is said to be served mainly at restaurants year-round rather than at home.
- Yubeshiゆべしyuzu peel simmered thick in sugar and soy sauceYuzu peel is chopped and simmered down sweet and salty in sugar and soy sauce until thick, into a preserved side dish. In the Aioi district of Naka Town, among the country's leading yuzu-growing areas, it is said to be slow-cooked when the fruit ripens around November, then eaten as a side dish or with tea.
- Tsutsumi Meshi包飯buckwheat porridge ladled over a bed of riceSobagome zosui and plain rice are cooked separately, then the porridge is ladled over the rice and mixed together before eating. Said to take its name from the rice being wrapped in buckwheat, thought to have evolved as the Iya valley's sobagome zosui spread down to the lowlands.
- Uchigae Zoniうちがえ雑煮a zoni made with firm stone tofu instead of rice cakeTaro is simmered in dried-sardine dashi, then topped not with rice cake but with firm, well-drained stone tofu stacked in layers, in this zoni from the Iya valley. Said to take its name from the way the stacked tofu resembles crossed swords, it is a New Year's dish of the mountain region.
- Yuzukanゆずかんa refreshing yuzu jelly made with the whole fruitA jelly made from yuzu juice is layered with slices of the peel and flesh for a refreshing dessert. Said to have become a popular casual treat in recent years in Naka Town, a major yuzu producer already known for preserved products like yubeshi.
- Zukigashiずきがしboiled taro stems dressed in a sweet-vinegar dressingZuiki — the stem of yatsugashira, a variety of taro — is boiled and dressed in a sweet vinegar mixed with soy sauce and yuzu vinegar. Said to be prized for its crisp texture, the stem turns a dull black when boiled but flushes a vivid red once dressed in vinegar.
Raised here3
- Awa Biton阿波美豚pork raised in Tokushima's mountain air on a rice-centered feedRaised in the mountains of Awa City, Tokushima, at about 400 meters, on a feed centered on rice. Handlers are said to adjust the feed mix daily and avoid genetically modified crops where possible.
- Awa Gyu阿波牛pedigreed cattle recognized nationally since the early 1960sPedigreed Japanese Black fattened in Tokushima, which gained recognition after being shown at a Tokyo meat market competition in 1962 — said to have a moist, fine-grained texture and modest fat.
- Awa Odori-dori阿波尾鶏a Tokushima fighting-fowl cross bred for the tableSaid to be developed by fixing a local red-and-black shamo fowl and crossing it with white Plymouth Rock; reared for the JAS-standard minimum of 75 days, with shipment volume reportedly among Japan's largest.
Prepared here2
- Awa Bancha阿波晩茶Fermented and bancha teasTokushima's lactic-fermented post-fermented teaA post-fermented tea from Naka and Kamikatsu towns in Tokushima, fermented by lactic acid bacteria. Coarser leaves picked from midsummer on are boiled, packed into wooden barrels, fermented for roughly 10 days to two weeks, then sun-dried — said to give a refreshing sourness.
- Gozen miso御膳味噌the miso once reserved for Tokushima's lordA somewhat sweet rice miso, rich in koji, whose name is said to come from having been served at the table (gozen) of Hachisuka Iemasa, lord of the Awa domain. Soybeans grown as a rotation crop alongside the domain's indigo trade are cited as part of its background; it became a registered cooperative trademark in 1966.
Known for it here2
- Wasanbon和三盆Known sourcehand-refined sugar from Shikoku's sugarcane fieldsA fine-grained sugar made from a cane variety called 'chikuto', repeatedly kneaded and refined by hand on a wooden tray (bon). Produced since the Edo period in eastern Shikoku, in both Tokushima and Kagawa, its refined sweetness is prized for making Japanese confectionery.South-facing hillsides suited to growing chikuto cane make this the main production area for Awa wasanbon.
- Wakameワカメa seaweed whose texture toughens against a strong tidal currentA brown seaweed used widely in miso soup and salads. Its thickness and bite are said to vary with the strength of the local tidal current, turning bright green when briefly dipped in hot water; fresh spring wakame is said to be most aromatic.Buffeted by the strong whirlpools of the Naruto Strait, it is said to grow thick and crisp; also known for the ash-drying preservation method devised here in the 19th century.