Akita

  • Kiritanpo Nabe (Hot Pot)

    Akita's representative hot pot simmering cedar-skewered rice in local chicken broth.

    Half-pounded cooked rice wrapped around a stick and grilled fragrantly over charcoal is called tanpo. This is cut into bite-sized pieces and simmered with Hinai-jidori chicken broth, burdock, water dropwort, maitake mushrooms, and other prefectural vegetables as a winter local cuisine. The key is maintaining chewy texture without letting the grilled surface absorb too much soup. Said to originate from Kakunodate samurai town, with roots as portable hunting food. Finishing with udon in remaining broth is also standard.

  • Inaniwa Udon

    Thin noodle udon made by hand-stretching method.

    Dried noodles passed down for about 350 years in Inaniwa district of Yuzawa City. Takes two days to complete through repeated hand-kneading, hand-stretching, and hand-twisting, resulting in chewy texture and smooth throat feel. Delicious both cold and hot, also popular as gift item.

  • Iburi-gakko

    Smoked takuan (pickled daikon) dried over smoke and pickled in rice bran.

    Preserved food created because daikon couldn't be dried outdoors in snowy inland areas, smoked and dried over hearth. Smoked aroma and bran acidity pair well with Japanese sake and cream cheese. New products like sliced chips and dips recently appeared.

  • Shottsuru Nabe

    Winter hot pot seasoned with hatahata fish sauce.

    Simmer prefectural fish hatahata and vegetables, adjusting saltiness with fermented seasoning shottsuru. Soup infused with fish sauce umami has no strong taste, also great for cooked rice or porridge.

  • Hatahata Sushi

    Winter-limited fermented sushi drawing out umami through fermentation.

    Traditional preserved food layering salt-cured hatahata with rice koji and vegetables, fermenting for about 10 days. Characterized by mild acidity from lactic fermentation, enjoyed as year-end and New Year treat.

  • Babahera Ice

    Rose-shaped sherbet served roadside by grandmas with spatulas.

    Summer tradition of two-color sherbet in strawberry and banana flavors arranged flower-like with metal spatula. Pink and yellow parasols line national highways throughout prefecture, comforting drive customers. Name origin is baba (grandma) + hera (spatula).