For your cultural life in Hiroshima Tako (octopus) たこ Many countries next to the sea have a food culture which includes octopus. In Japan, octopus is one of the important ingredients in Japanese food. Takoyaki is Japan’s most familiar octopus dish. It is a grille-cooked dumpling, consisting of wheat flour, bits of octopus (tako), green onion and ginger (beni- shoga). Then, it is served topped with sauce, powdered seaweed (aonori) and dried bonito (katsuobushi). Japanese love octopus the shape as well. “Tako-san Sausage” is a pan-fried sausage carved to look like an octopus. This is a popular ingredient in bento (lunch boxes), especially for children. Mihara City in Hiroshima Prefecture is a town famous for octopus. There are good marine conditions for octopi to live and grow. You will see many pots to catch octopus (takotsubo) placed alongside the fishery port in Mihara. Also, you can enjoy various octopus dishes as well. As for unique ones, how about octopus baumkuchen and octopus momiji-manju? Momiji-manju, which is Hiroshima’s famous confection, is a maple-leaf-shaped cake with filling that is usually sweet bean paste. Octopus momiji-manju’s filling is cheese cream and boiled octopus. If you have a chance to go to Mihara, why not try these rare and unique octopus-based foods? September 2015 Community Connections - Hiroshima Jyôhô a-Nettô: An Online Treasure of Community Information City Office Notices Movie Theaters Bilingual TV Programs Concerts & Plays Museums SPORTS - Hiroshima Toyo Carp Schedule 2015 - Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Game Schedule 2015 Events - Seasonal Events Information - Municipal Facilities Lounge & Library - Library News - Trio-phone Service (multilingual interpretation using the telephone) - Garbage Disposal Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation International Exchange Lounge 1-5 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima 730-0811 E-mail:
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