Rice dishes
Iri Meshi
Iri meshi — dried baby sardine mixed into seasoned rice
Dried 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.
- Origin: Tokushima Sanagochi
- About 520 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
Iri-meshi is a mixed rice dish from the Saga district of Sanagōchi village, made by folding vinegar- and soy-seasoned chirimen (dried baby sardines) together with finely chopped fish cake, shiitake, konjac, and burdock into freshly cooked rice. The salty, tangy sardines and the crunch of root vegetables combine for a simple flavor said to be satisfying enough on its own, without side dishes. The chirimen typically comes from Wadajima in Komatsushima, sun-dried for extra aroma and umami, and a squeeze of sudachi citrus is sometimes added for brightness.
How it's made
Rice is cooked first. Chirimen seasoned with vinegar and soy sauce is mixed with konjac, burdock, and shiitake that have been simmered down in dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. Dried sardines are the usual base for that dashi, and some cooks add local sudachi juice to the sardines' soaking liquid for extra fragrance. The method is simple — everything is just mixed together — which is part of why the dish works as a one-bowl meal that needs no side dishes.
Why it took this shape
In the Saga district, iri-meshi is said to have been served after "tsuji-shigoto," communal work parties that maintained irrigation channels and cleared grass, or during breaks in farm work, as a way of thanking the workers. Because it comes together quickly by mixing and can be prepared in large batches, it suited meals shared during breaks from group labor. Handed down for more than a century by some accounts, it was reportedly also served at village gatherings, a dish that has endured alongside the community ties that shaped 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 Tokushima
- Amego no HirarayakiA 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 BanchaA 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.
- Awa BitonRaised 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 GyuPedigreed 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 no ItokoniSweet 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 UiroRed 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.