Japanese Local Cuisine - Sanuki Udon And Local Dishes
屋島
YASHIMA
Sanuki is a city located in Kagawa in Japan. It's Japan's smallest prefecture. Sanuki is well-known for Udon-country as well as Napori in Italy does, which is very well-known for the name, when it comes to 'Italian pasta'.
The flavor of soup(broth) vary from region to region. Sanuki Udon broth is made from light soy sauce is used in western Japan. Dark brown broth is made from dark soy sauce is used in eastern Japan. It is often said that western broth is very flavored and tasteful, you can drink its all soup in bowl til the last drop.
The owner comes from Kagawa prefecture. He grew up in Takamatsu city, close to a famous mountain called 'YASHIMA'. He traveled restaurants seeking the best ingredients for his soup when he was in early twenties and practiced the way to make hand-made Udon in Kagawa for years. And during the time, he made his original recipe for broth and opened his restaurant in Meidai-mae in Tokyo in 1969.
The restaurant is warm and relaxed atmosphere with sober light. You can enjoy casual dining with families, friends and co-workers for parties. Of course, you would always see couples and a person visiting not only the lunch time also for the evenings. His soup is also made from fried bonito and kelp, which are delivered from kagawa prefcture.
Popular Udon are 'Yashima udon' which is named from the restaurant's name, topped with quail egg, kamaboko, kitsune(sweet deep-fried tofu), nori(sea weed), wakame, troro konbu(thinly sliced kelp), and 'Chanpon udon' is udon in hot soup with seafood and plenty of vegetables, 'Niku udon' topped with sliced beef stewed in sukiyaki sauce.
There are also some cold udon in the menu. They are popular in summer season. And especially for the winter time, you would see every table is served 'Udon-suki', which is quite popular udon pot in his restaurant. It contains chickens, plenty of seafood and vegetables. So you would notice that the soup becomes very flavored and rich in the pot, so that you can have another way to enjoy the soup. It is called 'Zousui'. After finishing all noodles and vegetables inside the pot, add some rice in the soup and then stirred with beaten eggs in the pot and have it. Try to have some with chopped dry seaweed (Kizami-Nori) and leek (called 'Yakumi'), if desired.
It seems like every customer has their own favorite dishes and prefer to have same kind of menu every time when they come visit in the restaurant. It would be interesting to try different dishes by seeing a one on other tables.
And at the end, you will see yourself having your best dish to order all the time.
All rights reserved. tomoyo.tnkw. 9.6.2008
The flavor of soup(broth) vary from region to region. Sanuki Udon broth is made from light soy sauce is used in western Japan. Dark brown broth is made from dark soy sauce is used in eastern Japan. It is often said that western broth is very flavored and tasteful, you can drink its all soup in bowl til the last drop.
The owner comes from Kagawa prefecture. He grew up in Takamatsu city, close to a famous mountain called 'YASHIMA'. He traveled restaurants seeking the best ingredients for his soup when he was in early twenties and practiced the way to make hand-made Udon in Kagawa for years. And during the time, he made his original recipe for broth and opened his restaurant in Meidai-mae in Tokyo in 1969.
He makes noodles with his hands in every early morning, changes the measure of seasonings depends on the tempreture and cooks its soup of the day. The restaurant serves not only Sanuki Udon but also its local specialty dishes such as 'Katsuo no tataki', 'Kobumaki' and 'Konyaku-sashi'. He adheres to tradition and selects good ingredients. Materials of broth and dishes are delivered from Tsukigi market and cooked by him originally then served at his restaurant.
The restaurant is warm and relaxed atmosphere with sober light. You can enjoy casual dining with families, friends and co-workers for parties. Of course, you would always see couples and a person visiting not only the lunch time also for the evenings. His soup is also made from fried bonito and kelp, which are delivered from kagawa prefcture.
There are also some cold udon in the menu. They are popular in summer season. And especially for the winter time, you would see every table is served 'Udon-suki', which is quite popular udon pot in his restaurant. It contains chickens, plenty of seafood and vegetables. So you would notice that the soup becomes very flavored and rich in the pot, so that you can have another way to enjoy the soup. It is called 'Zousui'. After finishing all noodles and vegetables inside the pot, add some rice in the soup and then stirred with beaten eggs in the pot and have it. Try to have some with chopped dry seaweed (Kizami-Nori) and leek (called 'Yakumi'), if desired.
Until Udon-suki pot is ready to eat, you can also enjoy the local dishes such as 'Katsuo no tataki', 'Kobumaki nishin' and local sake, called 'Kinryou'. It is served in both hot and cold in tables. Further more, you can't forget to order 'Karaage' cooked with chickens grown in Totori prefecture. The chicken is very tender and tasteful.
It seems like every customer has their own favorite dishes and prefer to have same kind of menu every time when they come visit in the restaurant. It would be interesting to try different dishes by seeing a one on other tables.
And at the end, you will see yourself having your best dish to order all the time.
All rights reserved. tomoyo.tnkw. 9.6.2008
