Rice dishes
Katemeshi
Katemeshi (Saitama) — rice stretched with dried vegetables and shiitake
Rice bulked out with dried taro stems and vegetables, centered on Chichibu where rice was scarce. It grew from the thrift of tenant farmers who had to sell most of their rice, and is eaten at mountain-god and Doll Festival rites.
- Origin: Saitama
- About 70 km northwest of Tokyo
What it's made of
Broken rice is cooked with simmered vegetables like daikon and taro mixed in. Depending on the area, dried taro stem or vinegared rice may be worked in, and each bite carries the mingled savor of the vegetables through the rice, giving a deeply flavorful dish that is colorful to look at as well.
How it's made
Dried shiitake, taro stem, carrot, and daikon, rehydrated in water, are stir-fried with fried tofu and shirataki noodles, then simmered in soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar. The cooked ingredients are folded into freshly cooked rice, vinegared rice, or tea-colored rice, depending on the region, with some areas said to add wild mountain greens.
Why it took this shape
In areas where rice yields were low, or among tenant farmers who had to hand over much of their harvest as rent, adding vegetables to stretch broken rice is said to have been the dish's origin. Often served as a festive dish on ceremonial days, its ingredients and seasoning are said to vary by region and household, a local taste still handed down today.
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 Saitama
- Sakekasu Miso RamenA winter-only ramen from Ageo City, where sake lees from a long-running local brewery are worked into a Chinese restaurant's miso broth. The lees' depth and aroma layer over the miso's savoriness, leaving a mellow finish that warms the body in the cold months.
- Dojo NiPond loach caught in the paddies of eastern Saitama, simmered sweet and savory with shaved burdock, from a land fed by the Arakawa and Tone rivers. Rich in nutrients, it was valued as a tonic and a food for pregnant women.
- Gyoda Furai"Furai" from around Gyoda, Saitama, despite its name, isn't fried — it's grilled. Chopped scallion and pork go on a wheat-flour batter cooked on a griddle, an okonomiyaki-like snack said to have caught on with the women working the town's tabi-sock factories.
- Higashimatsuyama YakitoriPork cheek grilled over charcoal and brushed with a spicy miso sauce.
- HiyajiruSesame and miso ground in a mortar, mixed with summer vegetables like cucumber and shiso, then chilled with cold water. It serves as a dipping broth for udon in noodle-loving Saitama, and Kawajima town calls it suttate.
- Iga ManjuA sweet bean bun wrapped in red rice and steamed, said to originate in Konosu. Named for its resemblance to a spiky chestnut burr, it balances a sweet-salty flavor with a chewy bite.