TRADITIONAL FOOD

TOKUSHIMA RAMEN (徳島県ラーメン)

Tokushima prefecture is famous for its unique style of ramen made with pork bones and sweet soy sauce. Tokushima Ramen comes in shades of dark brown, yellow and white, depending on whether pork, chicken or vegetable broth is used, and whether the soy sauce added is dark or light. Bowls of the broth and soft, thin noodles are served topped with slices of seasoned pork ribs, green onions, and a raw egg that cooks in the hot soup. Uniquely, Tokushima Ramen is often served with a side of rice, and recent years have seen a new dish called Tokushima-don become popular, a bowl of rice topped with Tokushima Ramen ingredients.

KATSUO NO TATAKI (鰹の叩き)

Kochi prefecture, facing the Pacific Ocean, is famous for its katsuo (also known as bonito or skipjack tuna), a fish highly prized in Japan. The area has a number of traditional katsuo dishes, the most famous of which being "Katsuo no Tataki". To prepare the dish, a katsuo fillet is wrapped in straw and seared until it's golden on the outside but still rare in the center, then sliced and served with condiments such as ginger, Japanese leek, shiso (perilla) leaves, garlic, and ponzu (a dressing of citrus and soy sauce).

IMOTAKI (芋たき)

Imotaki is an autumn root stew enjoyed in Ehime prefecture. It's made with taro root, chicken, and Matsuyama-age, a kind of deep-fried tofu similar to the abura-age fried tofu pouches used for inari sushi, but crispy and very rich in oil. The ingredients are simmered together in a flavorful iriko dashi (dried sardine stock) with other root vegetables until they absorb the stock's flavor. Imotaki stew is traditionally eaten outdoors beside fields and rivers at autumn moon-viewing parties called "tsukimi".

UWAJIMA TAIMESHI (宇和島鮪飯)

Tai, or red snapper, is an exquisite-tasting fish that has been used as a symbol of celebration in Japan since ancient times. In the Uwajima region of Ehime, locals enjoy a dish called Tai Meshi (red snapper and rice), which is regarded as the "soul food" of Ehime. Tai Meshi consists of a bowl of cooked rice topped with red snapper sashimi that has been dipped in raw egg yolk mixed with a sweet sauce. The red snapper in the Ehime region is caught in the Seto Inland Sea, which gives it notably firm flesh and an exceptional flavor that goes excellently with the creamy egg yolk and sweet sauce.

SOBAGOME ZOUSUI (蕎麦雑炊)

Zosui is a style of Japanese porridge made with vegetables and plenty of rice. In Tokushima Prefecture, where the land and climate are not well suited to rice farming but buckwheat is an essential local crop, residents enjoy a variation of zosui made with buckwheat grain instead-"sobagome zosui". It's made by boiling, drying, and husking sobagome (buckwheat grain), and cooking the grain together with shiitake mushrooms, chicken, and konnyaku (yam cake) to make a thick porridge.