Place
Wakayama
和歌山県
24 items
● 22 born here(Bouri, Goma Toufu, Gonpachi no Abura Itame, and more) / ● 2 raised here(Kishu Umedori, Kumano Gyu) / ○ 1 known for it here
Born here22
- Bouriぼうりa whole parent taro simmered for two days, eaten in place of New Year's mochiA whole, unpeeled parent taro is simmered over two days for this New Year's dish from the Ayukawa area of Tanabe City's Ото̄ district. One account holds that villagers gave up pounding mochi for six hundred years to atone for once turning away a fleeing prince, eating this in its place.
- Goma Toufuごま豆腐sesame ground and kneaded with mountain-water arrowrootRaw sesame is skinned, ground, and worked with mountain water and Yoshino arrowroot into a simmered block of shojin cuisine. Said to have supplied protein for monks who abstained from meat and fish, it's now a familiar Koyasan souvenir and a fixture on Japanese menus.
- Gonpachi no Abura Itameゴンバチの油炒めwild knotweed stir-fried until crisp-tenderGonbachi, formally known as itadori knotweed, is blanched, peeled, and quickly stir-fried in oil for this spring dish. Thick, well-grown stalks that snap with a crisp pop are prized for a crunchy bite and a faint sourness.
- Hatagonbo Zushiはたごんぼずしa stout local burdock hollowed out and packed with sushi riceA stout, round burdock called hatagonbo, grown on the steep red-clay slopes of Hashimoto City's Nishihata district, is sliced into rounds, hollowed at the center, and packed with vinegared rice. Cultivation had nearly died out until a local cooperative revived it around 2013, roughly seventy years on.
- Igami no Nitsukeいがみの煮付けa whole parrotfish simmered sweet and salty for New Year'sIgami — what southern Wakayama calls the parrotfish — is simmered whole in a sweet-salty broth. Feeding on seaweed among winter rocks leaves it free of any off-flavor, and around Tanabe it's said to be served head-to-tail in place of sea bream for New Year's.
- Inoko Mochiいのこ餅taro-mashed rice balls coated in sweet red bean, offered at harvestNon-glutinous and sticky rice are cooked with taro, mashed, and shaped into balls coated with lightly salted sweet red bean paste. Offered to the harvest god on the Day of the Boar in the old tenth lunar month, it's also made for autumn festivals in parts of southern Wakayama.
- Kaki Maburiかきまぶりa chirashi-style rice dish made in bulk for guestsDried tofu, shiitake, and seasonal vegetables are folded into sushi rice for this chirashi-style dish. Its name comes from "maburi," a Naga-area dialect word for "mix," and it's made in bulk for celebrations where the number of guests can't be known in advance.
- Kakimade Gohanかきまでご飯rice mixed with fish-stock vegetables, no vinegarVegetables are simmered in a stock made from grilled fish bones, then folded into rice cooked with a splash of sake — no vinegar, unlike chirashi sushi. It's a mixed rice dish served at celebrations and memorial gatherings across the Hidaka region.
- Mame Gohan豆ごはんspring peas cooked into rice at the peak of harvestAs rice grew scarce each spring, plump usui peas at the peak of their harvest were cooked into rice to stretch it further, a dish from the pea-growing districts of central Wakayama. Seasoned with nothing but salt, it lets the peas' sweetness and flavor carry the dish.
- Mehari Zushiめはりずしa rice ball wrapped whole in salt-cured mustard greensA big rice ball wrapped whole in salt-cured mustard greens, carried into the hills and out to sea in southern Wakayama. Accounts of the name vary — eyes opening wide at its size, or at its flavor — and both the filling and the rice change by area.
- Mikan Mochiみかん餅mandarin oranges steamed onto sticky rice and pounded togetherArida mandarins are steamed atop sticky rice, then peeled and pounded in together into a mochi treat. Said to have grown out of research into local home cooking, it carries the citrus's tang and scent, and turns crisp outside, molten inside, when toasted.
- Okaisanおかいさんrice simmered in roasted tea, a stand-in for scarce riceRice is simmered in water steeped with roasted tea — what Wakayama fondly calls chagayu. Said to have stretched scarce rice into a filling meal in a mountainous prefecture, it's topped differently by every household, with sweet potato, umeboshi, or kinzanji miso.
- Onomi no Sashimi尾の身の刺身thin-sliced, marbled whale tail meat eaten rawThinly sliced, marbled whale meat from the narrow cut near the tail fin, served raw as sashimi in the town of Taiji. In a town with a history of traditional whaling reaching back to the Edo period, where every part of the whale is used, this cut is counted among the rarest.
- Shouga Meshiしょうが飯new ginger cooked straight into the rice potMild new ginger, grown in the sandy soil along the Kinokawa river, is cooked straight into the rice pot in this Wakayama City dish. Its bright scent whets the appetite and goes down easily even in summer, and it's also been used as a folk remedy for colds and poor circulation.
- Tachiuo Ryouri太刀魚料理cutlassfish served raw, grilled, fried, or simmeredCutlassfish landed at Arida City's Mishima fishing port, on a productive stretch of the Kii Channel, are eaten every way — raw, salt-grilled, fried, simmered. Locals affectionately call it "tacchо," and it's prized for a light, refined flavor.
- Utsubo Ryouriうつぼ料理moray eel dried, fried, and simmered into a soy glazeThe moray eel — called the "gangster of the sea" for its sharp teeth — is butterflied and sun-dried in autumn and winter in southern Wakayama, then fried and coated in a sweet soy glaze. The mild white flesh also goes into hot pots, sashimi, and fried preparations.
- Uzumiうずみrice buried under a clear tofu broth for a memorial mealRice is buried beneath a clear broth of shiitake and kelp, floated with tofu and mushrooms, and finished with citrus zest and ginger. Passed down only in the Hirai hamlet deep in the Kozagawa valley for the eve of a memorial service, one account traces it back to Kyoto kaiseki cuisine.
- Wakame Zushiわかめずしsushi rice rolled inside a sheet of fresh wakameFrom Yura, a wakame-farming town where the Kii Channel's rough waters produce especially fragrant seaweed. Fresh young wakame fronds are spread out and rolled around vinegared rice like a nori roll; sliced into rounds it reveals a striped pattern, and it's long been packed for hikes and served at celebrations.
- Wakayama Ramen和歌山ラーメンTonkotsu — pork bonepork-and-soy broth, locally called chuka sobaA broth of pork bones and soy sauce. Locals call it chuka soba and often eat it with pressed mackerel sushi kept on the table.
- ImomochiいももちImomochi (Wakayama) — sweet potato pounded with a small measure of sticky riceSweet potatoes grown on red clay bluffs are pounded together with a smaller-than-usual measure of sticky rice into this treat from the Kumano coast. Said to have begun as a way to stretch scarce rice on land ill-suited to growing it, it's toasted once it cools and firms up.
- Kokera Zushiこけら寿司Kokera Zushi (Wakayama) — grilled fish and vegetables pressed into sushi riceGrilled, flaked fish, shiitake, carrot, and egg are laid over sushi rice and pressed in a wooden mold. One theory traces the name to "kokera" roof shingles the layers resemble, and each district uses its own fish, fillings, and wrapping leaf for this summer-festival and New Year's dish.
- Wasabi Zushiわさびずしvinegared salt mackerel pressed and wrapped in wasabi leavesIn the Shimizu area of Aridagawa Town, where wasabi grows wild, salt-cured mackerel is set over vinegared rice and wrapped in a wasabi leaf for this pressed sushi. Made in households for rice planting, Obon, and autumn festivals, the leaves are sometimes frozen to keep on hand since they're hard to come by.
Raised here2
- Kishu Umedori紀州うめどりfed on extract from the region's famous plumsSaid to be a branded chicken co-developed by a plum-processing company and the prefecture in Minabe, a plum-growing town, fed on a desalted extract drawn from ume vinegar — reportedly yielding milder, more tender meat.
- Kumano Gyu熊野牛named in 1984 for a region that once kept cattle as farm laborJapanese Black raised in the Kumano district of southern Wakayama, a region that once kept cattle as farm labor — branded for beef in 1984, with some producers fattening in neighboring Mie.
Known for it here3
- MaguroマグロKnown sourcetuna — the modern king of sushiToday's king of sushi, served soy-cured in old Edo. Oma, Nachikatsuura, Misaki and Yaizu are its famed landing ports.
- KueクエWhite fishKnown sourcelongtooth grouper — a rare, prized winter grouperA large grouper sometimes called the 'phantom fish' for its scarcity. At its best in winter, commanding high prices raw or in hot pot — Kuroshio-facing ria coastlines shelter its juveniles, so both wild and farmed fish center on those waters.
- Umeboshi梅干しsalt-cured, sun-dried plums with a sourness that cuts through everythingPlums cured in salt, then sun-dried — one of Japan's oldest table preserves. In southern Wakayama, cultivation is said to have spread after wild plum trees on tax-exempt wasteland were deliberately encouraged as a way to ease the local tax burden.Cultivation of wild yabu-ume plum trees on tax-exempt wasteland is said to be the starting point behind the region's growth as a plum-growing area. Alongside Minabe, this was the Edo-period Tanabe domain territory, whose sun-facing mountain climate is said to have suited plum cultivation well.