Rice dishes
Amenoio Gohan
Amenoio gohan — rice cooked whole with Lake Biwa trout
A whole Lake Biwa trout, migrating upstream to spawn, is set atop rice and cooked together; "amenoio" means "rain fish," a name tied to the trout's autumn run after rainfall. The flesh and roe are flaked and mixed through the rice, traditionally made in large pots for gatherings.
- Origin: Shiga
- About 360 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Amenoio gohan is rice cooked with a whole Biwa trout that has swum upstream to spawn in autumn. Amenoio means rain fish, a nickname for the Biwa trout tied to how it migrates up rivers swollen by rain. Depending on the area, the fish may be filleted, and additions like carrot, shiitake, mushrooms, or fried tofu vary, giving Koto, Kosei, Hokubu, and Konan each a slightly different version.
How it's made
When cooked in a large pot, the roe is left inside the fish, which is placed whole on top of the rice with a little soy sauce and sake, then cooked together. Once done, lifting the fish by the head and giving it a gentle shake is said to let the flesh and roe fall away, leaving just the head and bones behind. The flesh and roe are then mixed into the rice and topped with chopped scallion. Using fillets instead has reportedly become more common in recent years.
Why it took this shape
The Biwa trout lives in the lake's deep water and was said to be a phantom fish, one old fishing gear could rarely catch. The brief autumn window when it swims upstream to spawn was reportedly the one precious chance for people living along the shore to encounter this elusive fish. Because the autumn trout has already lost much of its fat by then, cooking it whole into rice is thought to have been devised as a way to make the most of it.
Before you go
- How to use a convenience storeA quick guide to choosing rice balls and hot snacks, buying coffee, paying by cash, IC card, or tap payment, using the eat-in corner, and sorting your trash — the basics for a first visit.
- Station food and ekiben (station bento)Where and when to find ekiben (station bento) before it sells out, etiquette for eating on board, how standing soba and udon stalls work, and where to find souvenirs sold inside the station.
- Soraben and airport diningA guide to what soraben means and how it differs from ekiben, whether to buy before or after security, etiquette for eating on board, airport restaurants, and things to check before buying food souvenirs to take home.
Dishes in the same style
- Aburafu DonDeep-fried wheat gluten, shaped into a log, is simmered in a sweet-savory broth and set with egg over rice, katsudon-style — a Tome City bowl said to trace to a tofu shop's shelf-stable gluten product, later turned into a bowl dish by a local innkeeper.
- Aburi-zushiNigiri with just its surface flash-seared by torch or hot iron. Unlike Edomae's shigoto curing for keeping, the searing here is done purely for the change in aroma and fat it brings — a relatively recent way of eating sushi.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Shiga
- Aka Konnyaku NiKonjac dyed reddish with iron oxide, a specialty of Omi-Hachiman, is pan-simmered with bonito flakes and soy sauce. The color holds even after cooking, and the dish is a fixture at ceremonial meals and school lunches alike.
- Chojifu no Karashi AeChojifu, a square baked wheat gluten unique to Shiga, is paired with cucumber and dressed in mustard-miso vinegar. The gluten also appears in Buddhist vegetarian meals, and its chewy texture with a refreshing tang makes the dish a staple at family gatherings.
- Dongame JiruEggplant scored with a crosshatch pattern is simmered in dashi, then finished with miso and ground sesame. Said to originate in the merchant town of Gokasho, the name compares the muddy look of the sesame in the broth and the eggplant's scored skin to a turtle's shell.
- Ebi MameFreshwater shrimp from Lake Biwa are simmered sweet-savory with soybeans. Inexpensive and long-keeping, the dish is eaten as everyday fare, but is also served at New Year's with a wish for long life — that one might live, like the bent-backed shrimp, into old age.
- Funa-zushiRoe-bearing crucian carp from Lake Biwa, salted and then packed in rice to ferment for half a year or more — the archetype of narezushi. Sharply sour and pungent, some eat the rice too, others scrape it off.