Tohoku, the northernmost region of Japan’s Honshu island, is particularly ripe for culinary exploration. And there’s not a ramen noodle or curry plate in sight.
When it comes to Japanese food, we all know the basics: Sushi. Ramen. Curry. Gyoza. But then there are all those regional variations and specialties unique to each prefecture, many of which have yet to make their mark on global menus.
The following KIBO excerpts highlight eight Japanese specialties that are popular in Tohoku. Entries have been edited for length.
The Tohoku region is justly famous for its walnuts — large, meaty orbs that produce an incredibly rich, aromatic paste when roasted and crushed — and its miso — a full-bodied, red fermented soybean paste.
In this dish, the two local champions combine with toasted sesame to make an addictively tasty filling for shiso leaves. Some Tohoku chefs will add a spicy spark to the sweet-and-salty miso mixture by adding a pinch of fiery shichimi togarashi (seven-spice blend) to the filling.
In the summertime, when fresh shiso grows in abundance, nuggets of the nutty filling are wound in the herb’s aromatic leaves before being lightly seared in sesame oil. These stuffed leaves are terrific with an icy beer, chilled sake or hot green tea.
Hittsumi-jiru, a classic Tohoku comfort food, is a chunky chowder-like soup — the sort of fare served at happy community events. In local Iwate dialect, the word hittsumi means « to pinch » and describes how the noodles are made.
Some Tohoku cooks will pinch off bits of stretchy dough and add them to the soup directly, others will shape (and parboil) the pinched noodles, then add them to the soup shortly before serving. The direct-to-the-soup-from-the-start method creates soft noodles in a thick stew. As the pinched noodles cook, the flour thickens the broth.
Parboiled pinched noodles, on the other hand, tend to be firm and a bit chewy; the soup is more chowder-like, brimming with bits of vegetable and meat.
Archaeological evidence dating back at least 5,000 years shows that the early inhabitants of Tohoku — the Jomon people — fished for salmon. The ancient coastline is dotted with inlets that today bear the names of well-known fishing ports: Ofunato, Rikuzentakata and Minamisanriku.
Salmon has always played an important role in Tohoku cuisine and harako meshi (literally « salmon child rice ») is a signature dish of the region. Often featured at family gatherings, every household seems to have its own rendition.
When presented as casual fare, the salmon is likely to be flaked and tossed into the rice as it steams for a final few moments. When divvied up, individual bowls are topped with a modest spoonful of salmon caviar.
On special occasions, though, many home cooks will present the dish on a large platter, garnished with slices of cooked salmon and clusters of caviar.
Dote (riverbank) nabe (hotpot) is so named for the rich earth-colored miso that’s smeared around the rim of the pot. As the broth bubbles, the miso is drawn into the pot, little by little, flavoring and thickening the soup (think riverbank silt sliding into a stream after heavy rains) .
Vegetables can simmer leisurely in the broth, waiting to be plucked out when each person is ready. The oysters, however, are best dipped briefly until just firmed a bit, then grazed along the rim to pick up extra miso.
Train stations throughout Japan sell boxed lunches, called ekiben, featuring local fare. Getting to sample these regional ekiben is one of the pleasures of domestic travel in Japan. Some ekiben come in special themed bento boxes; kokeshi ningyo-shaped ones are one example.
Stylized kokeshi dolls have been associated with the region, especially the Nambu district that includes the cities of Morioka and Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture, for hundreds of years.
They were, and still are, one of the most popular souvenirs with visitors to the region’s famous hot spring resorts. Traditional dolls handcrafted by kijishi (woodcarving artisans skilled in lathe work) have become collectors’ items.
Packed into this kokeshi obento box is a rice dish cooked by a multistage method known as takikomi. Fried tofu and mountain vegetables are first cooked to create a flavorful broth, which is then used to cook the rice.
Takikomi dishes typically feature regional and seasonal ingredients. For instance, spring in Tohoku means an abundance of mountain vegetables, such as fern, bracken and tender young bamboo shoots.
Salted, pressed rice sandwiches — onigiri — are easy to pack up, transport and eat, making them a substantial, satisfying finger food. Most are shaped into triangles, though logs called tawara, or « rice sheath, » and balls are also common.
Plain, white rice stuffed (like a sandwich) with a filling is the norm, but maze gohan (cooked rice that has been tossed with other cooked foods) is also used in making onigiri.
Rice « sandwiches » are usually wrapped with strips of nori (laver) , though onigiri are sometimes slathered with miso or brushed with soy sauce and grilled. These are called yaki onigiri, or grilled pressed-rice.
7. Matsu no mi shira ae, kaki utsuwa: Persimmons stuffed with fall fruits in pine nut tofu sauce
Many food cultures scoop out juicy melons and citrus fruits then serve the fruit, cut into bite-sized pieces, in the hollowed-out shell. In Japan, persimmons are used in a similar fashion.
The carved-out shell becomes an impressive cup in which the diced persimmon is served on its own or in combination with other fall fruits — grapes, pears, crisp apples — that have been doused with a classic sauce of pine nuts and tofu called shira ae.
To make the creamy sauce, some cooks merely mash tofu and season it with a drizzle of mirin (sweet rice wine) and a drop of usukuchi shoyu (light-colored soy sauce) . Others will blend mashed tofu with sweet, pale miso or a spoonful of rich sesame paste.
In the Tohoku region, many cooks add toasted, crushed pine nuts to enhance their rendition of shira ae.
