Rice dishes
Tofumeshi
Tofumeshi — mashed tofu, canned mackerel, and root vegetables steamed into rice
A mixed rice dish from the Oyama district of Tanba-Sasayama, made by simmering mashed tofu with canned mackerel, burdock, and carrot in a sweet soy seasoning, then folding it into freshly steamed rice. It is said to have been devised by a village elder to simplify preparing food for community gatherings.
- Origin: Hyogo Tamba Sasayama
- About 420 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
Boiled tofu, carrot, burdock, and canned mackerel are stir-fried and mixed into freshly cooked rice. The soft give of the tofu, the crunch of the root vegetables, and the savoriness of the mackerel come together in an unpretentious, homely flavor.
How it's made
Canned mackerel, carrot, burdock, fried tofu pouch, and boiled tofu are stir-fried and seasoned with a soy-based sauce, then spread over freshly cooked rice, steamed briefly, and mixed through. It has long been made in large batches for community sports days and life-cycle ceremonies.
Why it took this shape
The dish is said to have originated when an elder in the Ohyama district, faced with preparing food for a large community gathering, suggested simply mixing the side dishes into the rice. Mackerel was reportedly available in this mountain area because one branch of the "saba kaido," the historic route carrying fish from Wakasa Bay to Kyoto, passed through the region. It is also said to have been packed into the lunches of sake brewers who left the area each winter to work at breweries elsewhere.
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 Hyogo
- AkashiyakiOctopus folded into a batter of wheat flour, jin-ko starch, egg, and dashi, cooked and dipped in a warm broth — Akashi's own take on the round batter-and-octopus dish, distinguished from takoyaki by that broth in place of sauce.
- Ako saltA salt tied to Japan's earliest full-scale commercial saltfields, using the irihama tidal-field method perfected in the Edo period. Controlling seawater with channels and embankments let work continue regardless of the tide, and the method is said to have remained Japan's main salt-making approach for some 300 years.
- Awaji BeefPure Tajima-line cattle raised on Awaji Island, a brand producers founded in 1986 — selected for balance between lean and fat rather than marbling volume, with a small annual output.
- Banshu RamenA distinctly sweet soy broth, said to have taken root among the town's textile-mill workers.
- Banshu Tenobe SomenA document held at Ikaruga-ji temple in Taishi records the word 'saumen' in an entry dated 1418, the oldest known reference to somen in Hyogo. In the Edo period the Ryuno domain formally licensed and encouraged the trade, built on locally grown wheat, the clear Ibo River, and salt from Ako.
- Botan NabeA Tanba-Sasayama hot pot of wild boar and seasonal vegetables simmered in a broth of white and red miso, often finished with a dusting of ground Japanese pepper. Some restaurants are said to arrange the sliced boar meat like the petals of a peony.