Uzumemeshi

Uzume meshi looks at first like ochazuke topped with a splash of broth and a dab of wasabi, but its real character lies beneath: finely chopped sea bream and vegetables hidden under the rice. The plain, simple rice gets a bright lift from the fragrant wasabi, grown in the region's clear mountain water, and the dish reveals more color and flavor with every spoonful as the hidden ingredients come into view. Tsuwano's wasabi is known for its pronounced sweetness and is used in this signature dish.

Vegetables are stir-fried in a pot, then simmered with stock from lightly seared sea bream and water, seasoned with soy sauce a little stronger than an ordinary clear broth. Once the vegetables have softened, the mixture is spooned into a bowl, topped with grated wasabi, and covered with a serving of rice. To eat it, the broth from the pot is poured over the top, turning it into something like ochazuke. Part of the dish's appeal is discovering exactly what ingredients are hidden inside as you work your way down through the rice.

Several explanations survive for how this way of eating began. One holds that it let people disguise a touch of extravagance during the frugal Edo period, when indulgence was frowned upon; another suggests the modest ingredients were simply embarrassing to have seen, which is said to be why a custom developed of serving and eating the dish with eyes lowered. A similar dish exists in neighboring Yamaguchi Prefecture, and some accounts link its spread to Buddhist practice, suggesting the dish originally contained no meat or fish at all.