Search results for “kansai”

Walk into a Tokyo department store food hall in February, and the fruit counter can look more like a jewelry case. Glossy red berries sit in neat rows beside strawberries so pale they look almost unripe. Some shops even sell them one at ...

Imagine biting into a strawberry that looks almost like a pearl, pale with a faint pink blush and dotted with tiny red seeds. That is the Pearl White strawberry (パールホワイト), a Japanese white strawberry developed in Nara Prefecture. ...

Oita Wagyu (おおいた和牛) is a premium certification for selected Oita Bungo Beef from Oita Prefecture, on the island of Kyushu. It is not a separate breed. To qualify, the beef must reach meat quality Grade 4 or 5. It must also come fro...

In Oita, some pigs eat rice before they reach the table. That simple detail sits behind Kome no Megumi pork (米の恵み), the prefecture's unified pork brand. The name means “blessing of rice,” and it covers pork from pigs given feed with ...

Picture a clay pot on a winter table in Hiroshima, its inner rim coated with a thick ridge of miso. That ridge is the whole point of Kaki no Dotenabe, a Hiroshima oyster hot pot. Oysters, tofu, and vegetables simmer in dashi broth, and d...

At Kochi's Sunday Market, packs of local sushi may look nothing like the nigiri you know. Pink buds, green stalks, and dark mushrooms replace the seafood that many visitors expect. This is Tosa Inaka Sushi (土佐田舎寿司), the mountain-ve...

You have one day in Kyoto, a list of temples, and room for a few memorable meals. So where should you begin? Many first-time visitors eventually ask 京都で何食べる (Kyoto de nani taberu?), meaning "What should I eat in Kyoto?" The answer...

A plate of salt-grilled fish arrives, its skin still crackling. You take a sip of sake, then a bite of fish, then another sip. Somehow the fish tastes richer and the sake feels cleaner. Why does that happen, and can you make it happen on...

In autumn, shoppers across Kansai are likely to see one Tokushima name repeated on produce signs: Naruto Kintoki. This Naruto Kintoki sweet potato comes from sandy fields in Tokushima Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku. Roast one slowl...

You sit down at a small izakaya counter, and the staff slide over a menu with a long column of kanji. Some words look familiar from bottle labels, while others do not. Meanwhile, someone nearby is sipping something warm from a tiny cup, ...