Where to feast on Japan’s regional flavours — with out leaving Tokyo

This article is a part of a information to Tokyo from FT Globetrotter

Japan is a rustic of greater than 6,800 islands, break up throughout 47 prefectures and historically divided into eight areas. From chilly Hokkaido within the north to balmy Kyushu and Okinawa within the south, nearly each nook of the nation has a culinary speciality.

Regional delicacies, or kyodo ryori in Japanese, performs an vital function in luring vacationers to Japan’s far-flung locations. These dishes usually carry a deeper significance too, entwined with geography and historical past.

Japan has a “climatic variety and biodiversity that have given rise to localities with unique characteristics,” says Roberto Maxwell, a geographer and professional on Japanese tradition and gastronomy. “The differences in climate throughout the year and the environment of each place have led to different uses of the same ingredients, or the development of unique techniques.” 

Those with out the time or the yen to eat their approach throughout the nation are in luck: many regional flavours could be sampled in Tokyo. Here is a nowhere close to exhaustive listing of the place to seek out wonderful meals from all of Japan’s areas — or shut approximations of it — within the capital.

Soup curry at Rojiura Curry Samurai (Hokkaido)

2 -27-2 Kichijoji Honcho, Musashino, Tokyo 180-0004

• Good for: Veggies cooked individually to maximise the flavour

• Not so good for: Those with a low tolerance for spices, although you possibly can select the extent of warmth

• FYI: Go early, particularly for lunch, otherwise you’ll have to attend and may even be turned away

• Website; Directions

Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost major island and area, is famend for its high-quality seafood. But through the lengthy winters, “soup curry” fills the longing for soul meals.

The British, who had adopted curry from India, launched it to Japan through the Meiji period (1868-1912). Today, curry is a staple of Japanese cooking — sometimes meat and potatoes boiled in a thick, roux-based stew. Lighter however no much less satisfying, Hokkaido’s model is a soup stuffed with spices and a broader array of greens.

The broadly accepted story traces the dish to a Sapporo café within the Seventies, and now the island is dotted with soup curry joints. One that has branched out is Rojiura Curry Samurai, a sequence with just a few areas in Greater Tokyo.

The greatest of those is in Kichijoji, a procuring and residential district. Wooden beams and uncovered lightbulbs give the eatery an off-the-cuff, homely ambiance. Rojiura Curry Samurai is just not laid-back in regards to the meals, nevertheless: an enormous promoting level is its dedication to cooking as much as 20 (rely them) greens individually with every order to let the flavour of every one shine. This meticulous preparation could be tasted in each chunk.

Rustic noodles at Itasoba Kaoriya (Tohoku)

Century Park Building 1F, 4-3-10 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0013

• Good for: A rustic vibe within the metropolis

• Not so good for: Big, boisterous teams

• FYI: You can select between skinny or thick, Tohoku-style noodles. Try the latter, which you’re much less more likely to discover elsewhere

• Website; Directions

Soba noodles are sometimes tied up with traditions and superstitions in Japan. At New Year, the customized is to eat a bowl of lengthy buckwheat noodles, which is alleged to symbolise a prolonged and comfortable life.

In the countryside of Yamagata Prefecture within the northeast, one other custom is to share soba noodles from a picket tray. This is named itasoba — ita that means “board” — and the act of sharing was mentioned to strengthen relationships in farming communities. 

As the noodles on the backside have a tendency to stick to the wooden — not like the bamboo colanders sometimes used for soba — others posit a fortunate reference to the phrase ita ni tsuku, actually “stick to the board”. The idiom, possible derived from stage performing, describes when somebody begins a brand new endeavour, hones their expertise and grows comfy.

Whatever the that means, the restaurant Itasoba Kaoriya serves noodles on a board with aptitude.

Kaoriya brings a rural sensibility to Tokyo’s upscale Ebisu district with its liberal use of wooden, together with lengthy tables customary out of heavy slabs. In regular occasions, these recreate a group ambiance, although that is diminished by clear plastic boundaries used as a Covid-19 precaution.

Just as you’ll discover in Yamagata, the soba is served on an ita. The rustic really feel extends to the noodles themselves, that are constituted of buckwheat milled with the husk, giving them a darker brown and deeper flavour than most different soba you’ll discover. The noodles include two dips, together with a tasty sesame sauce, together with tasty facet dishes reminiscent of tempura and dashimaki tamago — a rolled omelette cooked in soup inventory. Solo diners are, in fact, welcome too.

Edo-mae sushi at Shutoku Ganso (Kanto)

4-14-16 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045

• Good for: High-quality sushi for an inexpensive value, with lunch beginning at ¥4,500 (about £30)

• Not so good for: Unadventurous eaters who may be turned off by, say, a glob of sea urchin atop a slice of uncooked squid

• FYI: The counter suits about 10 prospects, so get there earlier than it opens at 11am

• Website; Directions

What the world is aware of merely as “sushi” traces its origins to Tokyo within the early nineteenth century, when the town was known as Edo. Although sliced fish on bite-sized parts of vinegared rice can now be discovered in all places from comfort shops to the best eating places, some institutions supply a extra genuine Edo expertise than others.

Back then, the shortage of refrigeration gave rise to strategies for preserving fish caught in Tokyo Bay, or Edo-mae — “in front of Edo”. This preparatory work, from marinating to steaming, is without doubt one of the key traits of Edo-mae sushi. Another is using akazu pink vinegar for the rice, slightly than white-rice vinegar. Made with sake lees, akazu produces darker and extra aromatic rice. Then there’s the nikiri — a combination of soy sauce, sake and mirin gently brushed on the fish earlier than serving. No two eating places have fairly the identical nikiri, every bringing its personal persona to this closing contact.

One place that places all of it collectively in model is Shutoku Ganso, a gap within the wall in Tsukiji, as soon as dwelling to the famed fish market. Watching the affable chef work his magic is a part of the expertise. Grated ginger balances on a sardine. A sprinkle of salt accentuates the sweetness of sea urchin. Sudachi citrus zest places a twist on the ocean bass. All of it makes for an unforgettable meal.

Kanazawa wagashi sweets at Morihachi (Chubu)

1-13-3 Kanda Jinbocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0051

• Good for: Buying items

• Not so good for: Chilling out — it’s takeaway solely

• FYI: The recent wagashi might promote out, however there are many packaged goodies

• Website; Directions

Traditional Japanese sweets, identified collectively as wagashi, are available in quite a lot of shapes, flavours and consistencies. Most are made with plant-based substances, leading to extra delicate and fewer saccharine sensations than Western confections. The elaborate creations of the town of Kanazawa within the Chubu area stand out amongst all of them.

Kanazawa was as soon as an vital fort city dominated by the highly effective Maeda samurai clan. The arts flourished through the comparatively peaceable Edo interval (1603-1868), together with these of the tea ceremony and wagashi.

The two are carefully associated. Subtle flavours like pink adzuki or white kidney beans — floor right into a paste sweetened with sugar — put together the palate for the nutty, savoury notes of inexperienced tea. Wagashi can even symbolise an event, reminiscent of cherry blossom-shaped sweets in springtime.

The Kanazawa confectioner Morihachi, which has been in enterprise since 1625, as soon as served the samurai lord Maeda Toshitsune. Passed down from technology to technology, the store has reached Tokyo, the place it sells fastidiously sculpted bites which are nearly too fairly to devour.

Osaka-style okonomiyaki at Kiji (Kansai)

flooring b1, TOKIA Building, 2-7-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-6490

• Good for: A satisfying lunch

• Not so good for: A romantic dinner

• FYI: Craving noodles? The modan (trendy) pancake consists of them

• Website; Directions

One of Japan’s nice culinary debates is whether or not Osaka- or Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is superior. The former is finest described as a savoury pancake, whereas the latter is a skinny crepe topped with noodles and different substances.

We’re not right here to take sides. But few would deny that Kiji, an Osaka establishment awarded Michelin’s Bib Gourmand, makes a tasty pancake — and it has outposts in Tokyo too.

It’s nothing fancy: chopped cabbage is blended right into a batter of flour and eggs and cooked on a griddle. As the identify suggests — okonomi means “as you like” and yaki means “grilled” — the remainder is as much as you. Choose something from squid and octopus to pork, even cheese, which isn’t usually utilized in Japanese delicacies. Then douse it with sauce and carve it up with a spatula.

With its no-frills decor, Kiji is as all the way down to earth because the delicacies it gives. Staff rush from side to side, sliding freshly cooked pancakes on to warmed griddles at every desk. For a greater have a look at the artwork of constructing okonomiyaki, ask for a seat on the counter by the kitchen.

Anago meshi at Nihonbashi Tamai (Chugoku)

2-9-9 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0027

• Good for: The retro constructing that dates again to 1953 

• Not so good for: Those squeamish about eels

• FYI: Order the ¥200 pot of eel-bone broth to pour over the previous few bites

• Website; Directions

Miyajima, within the Seto Inland Sea close to Hiroshima, was anointed certainly one of Japan’s high three scenic spots within the seventeenth century. The ravages of time and tourism haven’t robbed it of its magic. The island is finest identified for the hulking torii gate on the shore, which seems to drift at excessive tide. In city, a cluster of eating places serve the native delicacy: anago meshi, or conger eel on rice.

Unlike freshwater unagi, labeled as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, saltwater anago was final assessed as being of “least concern”. In Tokyo, one of many few eating places specialising on this much less problematic choice is Nihonbashi Tamai.

Inside its previous picket shophouse, Tamai serves lacquer containers of rice topped with simmered or grilled anago, which is softer and fewer oily than its threatened cousin. The anago is roofed with a mildly candy, caramelised sauce and comes with quite a lot of toppings, together with citrus peel and wasabi.

The restaurant was based by Edo-mae sushi masters and sources eels from totally different areas relying on the season, together with the Seto Inland Sea.

Katsuo no tataki at Myojinmaru (Shikoku)

fourth flooring, GEMS Kayabacho Building, 1-1-7 Shinkawa, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0033

• Good for: Casual eating in a bunch

• Not so good for: A quiet, intimate meal

• FYI: The restaurant says it makes use of Kochi salt dried “using only the heat of the sun and the power of the natural wind”

• Website; Directions

Off the crescent-shaped shoreline of the sparsely populated Kochi prefecture, within the Shikoku area, many fishermen take delight in a centuries-old methodology of catching katsuo (bonito) with rods, slightly than hauling them from the ocean in nets.

They’ve additionally perfected the artwork of cooking bonito: katsuo no tataki. The pink fillets are briefly seared on a straw fireplace that reaches 1,000C. This creates a crispy char on the surface however leaves the within uncooked. The fish is reduce into thick slices, sprinkled with salt or soy sauce and served with beneficiant helpings of onions, ginger and garlic.

Kochi-born restaurant Myojinmaru takes its identify from a vessel that also plies the waters off Shikoku, based on its web site. In Tokyo, it serves katsuo and different Kochi favourites at a department in a 10-storey riverside constructing dedicated to eating places. A big mural of a fishing boat — full with leaping bonito — and banners emblazoned with the restaurant’s identify in calligraphy add a contact of character to the fashionable if barely sterile decor. The cowl of the menu, {a photograph} of deep-red katsuo no tataki, leaves little doubt about the home speciality.

Buta no kakuni at Gohanya Isshin (Kyushu)

flooring b1, Twin Building Daikanyama A, 30-3 Sarugakucho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

• Good for: Carefully chosen rice, sourced from totally different manufacturing areas every year relying on high quality

• Not so good for: When you’re in a rush

• FYI: You’ll have to attend in line at lunchtime; reservations are accepted, and important, for dinner

• Website; Directions

Buta no kakuni — braised pork stomach simmered in sake, soy sauce and sugar — could be present in eating places and houses throughout Japan. Nevertheless, the area of Kyushu and the town of Nagasaki think about these morsels of meat to be their forte. The dish is alleged to have been adopted and tailored from Chinese merchants and migrants who got here to the world centuries in the past.

Isshin, hidden down a flight of stairs in Tokyo’s stylish Daikanyama district, serves an distinctive kakuni alongside well-crafted takes on different Japanese pub fare like fried crab-cream croquettes. The kakuni is served in a broth with a boiled egg, onion and a dollop of Japanese mustard.

The inside has a distinctly Japanese really feel, with wooden flooring, tatami seating and massive vats of rice on the entrance of the open kitchen. It’s additionally a shoes-off form of place: employees will ask you to go away them on the door, they usually’ll be neatly organized for you while you depart.

Goya chanpuru at Ryukyu Chinese Tama (Okinawa)

2-3-2 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0002

• Good for: Late-night bites

• Not so good for: Spreading out, as some tables can really feel cramped

• FYI: The partitions are lined with an in depth wine choice 

• Website; Directions

Okinawa and Kyushu are typically thought of a single area. But the Okinawan islands boast a delicacies that displays their distinctive historical past.

Japan’s southernmost prefecture was as soon as a kingdom, Ryukyu, with its personal language and customs. Its location made it a commerce hub linking China, Japan, the Korean peninsula and south-east Asia, till its annexation into Japanese territory in 1879. After the second world conflict, the US managed the islands till 1972.

This melange of cultures is clear in chanpuru, a stir-fry of tofu, eggs, greens and meat. The identify comes from the Malay or Indonesian phrase campur and means “something mixed”. A preferred model is made with goya, or bitter melon.

Tucked away on a quiet avenue close to teeming Shibuya station, Ryukyu Chinese Dining Tama serves goya chanpuru with Spam, which was launched to Okinawa through the American occupation. Dried bonito flakes, sprinkled on high, dance within the steam of the recent combination, including a Japanese contact.

This cosy Michelin Bib Gourmand eatery invitations you in with its gleaming signal, a glass facade that permits a view of the kitchen and lion-like Okinawan Shisa statuettes mentioned to chase away evil spirits. Inside, you’ll discover quite a few different specialities from the islands, reminiscent of Okinawa soba, in addition to dishes from China — a tribute to the pleasant owner-chef’s Okinawan mom and Chinese father.

Which Tokyo eateries that specialize in regional dishes would you advocate? Tell us within the feedback

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