FOOD

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Flavors of 10

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theTraditional Japanese Four food does not Seasons end with sushi

and tempura. No matter where you are in the 2 1 5 country, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, local food 11 associated with each of the four seasons can be 3 enjoyed. Here we feature some representative 6 local dishes that Japanese people commonly associate with the seasons.

the coast of Kochi Spring in early summer and fall. Since the A T Ikanago no kugini (Hyogo) Edo period Ikanago no kugini is (1603–1867), it cooked using has been enjoyed and sugar to stew young as summer cui- ikanago (sand lance), a sine. Rice straw is species of fish caught burned and the in the Seto Inland Sea fire is used to roast the surface of cleaned katsuo before from February to cooling it. The roasted katsuo is sliced at about a one- March. It is a homemade dish in Hyogo, Osaka and centimeter width. It is eaten dipped in seasoning made other parts of the Kansai area. Local people feel the of green onion or garlic, and soy sauce or other types of coming of spring when eating kugini. Kugi means “nail” sauce. and the dish’s name is said to come from its resemblance D to nails. Goya chample (Okinawa) Goya chample is B Hobazushi (Gifu) cooked by stir- Hobazushi is prepared by ­frying goya (bitter wrapping vinegared rice, gourd), a typical trout, vegetables and Okinawan vegeta- other ingredients in a ble, with ingredi- honoki (Japanese big-leaf ents such as magnolia) leaf. In the and pork. “Cham- past, households in the ple” in the Oki- mountainous areas of nawan dialect means “mix.” In the past, goya was mainly Gifu served hobazushi to neighbors and relatives who grown in Okinawa and Kyushu. These days it is grown helped them plant rice in the spring. The leaf has a in family gardens around the country. pleasing scent and antimicrobial properties. EUnagi no kabayaki (Shizuoka) Summer Unagi no kabayaki is cooked by cleaning an unagi (eel), basting it with a mix of soy sauce, sugar, rice wine and C Katsuonotataki (Kochi) other ingredients, and broiling it. The broiled eel can be Katsuonotataki is made using katsuo (bonito) caught off eaten alone, accompanying other foods or on hot rice.

Highlighting Japan JANUARY 2012 22 Japanese customarily ­Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures. Harakomeshi is eat unagi no kabayaki said to have become popularized when Masamune Date in the summer to ward (1567–1636), a famous military commander who gov- off fatigue. Abundant erned this area in the Sengoku and early Edo periods, in water, Shizuoka is a praised its taste. common production area of unagi, with nu- Winter merous farms raising I the eels. Ishikarinabe (Hokkaido) Japanese have long had the custom of gathering around F Hiyashiru (Miyazaki) a kettle pot to warm themselves in the winter. Ishikari- Hiyashiru is nabe is one of the representative dishes of cold Hokkai- cooked by dis- do. It originated from a practice of fishermen who lived solving broiled at the mouth of the Ishikari-gawa river in the eastern in water, part of Hokkaido. In the fall and winter, they would adding sliced cu- catch running cumber, shiso salmon and cook (perilla) and them by cutting other ingredients, them into chunks and pouring it on and stewing them rice. This local cuisine originated from busy farmers’ with miso and in- need for an easy-to-cook food. It can be enjoyed even gredients such as on a small appetite, a typical symptom brought on by cabbage, onions the summer heat. and tofu. Fall JKiritanpo (Akita) Kiritanpo is cooked by G Imoni (Yamagata) grinding cooked rice, mold- Imoni is cooked using ing it to wooden skewers a soy sauce- or miso- and broiling it. It is said to based to stew have originated in the taro and meat. Local northern part of Akita. people in Yamagata Kiritanpo can be eaten typically hold imonikai pasted with miso, or added (imoni par