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Blog Food 3ページ目
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Takayama ramen
In Gifu City, where I’m from, there’s a Chinese ramen shop called Kotengu, which I often visited to round off a night out. This ‘Chinese ramen’ is what is now known as Takayama ramen. Whilst the name ‘Takayama ramen’ is now well established, it used to be called ‘Chinese ramen’. Because the soy sauce base and broth are simmered together in a large pot, the colour is quite dark, but the flavour is light and refreshing, and it goes very well with the thin, curly noodles. Nowadays, Takayama Ramen is as popular as Hida beef. I visited Ramen Fukuchan. It’s…
- Food
- Spot introduction
- Takayama
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Kameyama: A Traditional Confectionery Shop
In Kyoto, there are small traditional confectionery shops known as ‘oman-ya-san’, which are beloved by locals as places to buy everyday sweets. Kameyama is situated on Gojo Street—where it is said the tragic warlords Yoshitsune and Benkei met in the 12th century—and is now located within the Matsubara Kyogoku Shopping Arcade. It is a shop recommended by Rakucho Nakaoka-ya, the makers of the ‘ojami’ zabuton cushions used at our guesthouse. It is said to have been in business for over 200 years. Their anmochi, filled with sweet red bean paste, has a gentle sweetness. It is a shop we highly…
- Food
- Kyoto
- Spot introduction
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Japanese morning set service
My home prefecture of Gifu is the Mecca of the ‘morning set’ culture. A ‘morning set’ is a service available only in the mornings where, when you order a coffee, you receive not only toast but also a salad and a boiled egg at no extra charge or for a very small fee. The Tokai region has a thriving textile industry, and as the noise from the looms was so loud, business meetings used to be held in coffee shops. It is said that this tradition began when a certain coffee shop started serving boiled eggs and peanuts to its…
- Food
- Kyoto
- Spot introduction
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Firefly squid
The season for firefly squid has arrived. March to May is the peak season for firefly squid each year. Although catches were low at the start of the fishing season on 1st March, a bumper harvest is anticipated this year. One hundred years ago, a researcher studying fireflies named this beautifully luminous squid 'firefly squid' after observing it in Toyama Bay. Its scientific name, Watasenia scintillans, is derived from his name. In Kyoto, firefly squid from Tajima, centred around Hamasaka Fishing Port, are popular. As they are pre-boiled, they can be eaten as is, but firefly squid and rapeseed flowers…
- Food