Exploring Mie: Gastronomic Delights in Mie

2014/02/24 Monday Exploring Mie

Welcome to the kingdom of gourmet feasting!

Mie is a haven of fresh delicacies from the sea and mountains.

Here you’ll find a dish to suit your tastes whatever they might be.

top-gastronomy-mie

 

Matoya oysters (Shima City) Mie Brand Dengaku (Iga City)
6Thanks to nutrients flowing in from three rivers, Matoya bay is abundant with plankton that are food for oysters.You may enjoy delicious, raw Matoya oysters. 7Tofu dengaku is barbecued slices of tofu with sweet miso sauce, skewered on a bamboo stick.
It is a local specialty, popular among the people of Mie.
Abalone (Ise-Shima Area) [Mie Brand] Anori-fugu (Shima City)  [Mie Brand]
8Since ancient times, abalone continues to be treasured as an offering to the gods. Woman divers, called ama, carefully catch them even now, while preserving their ecosystem as a future resource.  9“Anori-fugu” is a wild Blowfish that are more than 700 grams of body weight in the waters between the Enshu and Kumano, including the IseBay. The fish is called “Anori-fugu” because they are mainly caught around Anori fisherman’s wharf.
Tekone Sushi (Ise-Shima Area) Ise-ebi Lobster and Seafood (Ise-Shima Area) [Mie Brand]
 10This dish made with fresh-cought katsuo (bonito) seasoned with soy sauce, was created by local fishermen as a ready-to-eat sushi.  11The sweet, pink, almost translucent Iseebi Lobster melts in your mouth, and this king of shrimp is delicious used in both Western and Japanese dishes. Other excellent local varieties of seafood include oysters, abalone, red snapper, and sazae.
Matsusaka Beef (Matsusaka City) [Mie Brand] Akafuku Rice Cakes (Ise City)
 1This high-quality beef is from prime Japanese Black Angus cattle which are fattened on beer and massaged with distilled spirits in order to enhance the texture of the meat. This delicacy can be enjoyed as steak, sukiyaki, in a shabu-shabu pot, or barbecued as yakiniku.  2Akafukumochi has been popular as a specialty of the town surrounding Ise Jingu since the middle of the Edo Era (1707). It is a rice cake, called mochi, covered with plenty of bean jam that is not too sweet and with an elegant flavor.
Ise Udon (Ise City) Mehari Sushi (Kumano City)
 3This famous udon dish of Ise includes plump noodles served in a dark broth seasoned with a unique tamari soy sauce and sweet mirin(rice vinegar) and flavored with green onions and red pepper.  4Mehari are rice balls wrapped around takana (Japanese pickled vegetables). They are named after the manner you must eat this food. Mehari (wide-eyed) sushi is so big that you have to open your eyes as wide as your month to eat it.
Clams (hamaguri) (Kuwana City)
5Kuwana City is famous for Kuwana-no-yaki-hamaguri (grilled clams) since the Edo Era (1603-1867). They are a blessing from the brackish delta where fresh water from the three Kiso rivers and seawater are nicely mixed.