Rice dishes
Hokki Meshi
Hokki meshi — rice cooked in the broth of local surf clams
Rice is cooked in the broth of surf clams simmered in soy sauce, the clams folded back in as the rice steams and finished with shiso — a dish of Soma. Matsukawa-ura, Fukushima's only lagoon, has been known as a surf clam ground since the Meiji era, and the dish is said to have begun as food fishermen ate aboard their boats.
- Origin: Fukushima Soma
- About 260 km northeast of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
This rice dish combines Soma's local rice with surf clams, a specialty of the same area. Cooking the rice in the broth from simmered clams gives it a rich, savory depth, and shiso leaf sprinkled on top rounds out the flavor. The clams, grown in mineral-rich waters, are said to be prized for their sweetness and tender texture.
How it's made
Surf clams are simmered in a pot of water, soy sauce, sugar, sake, and salt, then set aside while the rice cooks, the basic method. The clams are folded back in during the steaming stage, and shiso leaf is scattered on top to finish. Adding julienned ginger with the clams is said to soften any fishy edge and leave a refreshing taste.
Why it took this shape
Soma, home to Matsukawaura, Fukushima's only lagoon, has been known as a surf clam source since the Meiji era, while also being a rice-growing area in its own right. The dish is said to have begun as a quick meal fishermen could make aboard their boats, combining these two local specialties into a single pot.
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 Fukushima
- Aizu RamenFlat, thick hand-made noodles in a clear soy broth. Said to trace back to a Aizuwakamatsu diner owner bringing home a taste learned in Yokohama — a second soy ramen lineage that grew up apart from Kitakata's, in the same Aizu region.
- Aizu Curry YakisobaA dish from Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima: sauce yakisoba topped with curry roux. It's said to trace to a diner called Tommy Food, which began ladling curry over its yakisoba, catching on especially among young diners for its low price and filling size.
- Aizu GyuSteers and heifers of Japanese Black raised in the Aizu basin, fed mainly local rice straw — the basin's sharp seasonal swings are said to suit fattening, making it Fukushima's leading brand.
- Aizu JidoriA lineage said to have been brought to Aizu by Heike clan refugees, saved from near-extinction and re-established through crossbreeding by Fukushima prefecture; reportedly fattened for 90 to 170 days.
- Aizu Sōsu KatsudonAizu's sauce katsudon, doused in a thick sweet-savory sauce. Its origin has several competing accounts, none settled, but all point to it being refined through everyday improvisation on Taisho-era Western food.
- Aizu Yamajio RamenSalt ramen seasoned with mountain salt drawn from hot-spring water — rounder than sea salt.