Japan's Great Threes

15 dishes

• 🍶Fushimi Sake📍 KyotoKyoto's historic brewing quarter and Japan's second-largest sake region. Its soft groundwater produces a mellow, refined style traditionally called 'onna-zake' (women's sake); long-established houses such as Gekkeikan line the canal-side streets.
• Hakata ramen📍 FukuokaHakata Ramen is a pork bone (tonkotsu) based ramen served primarily in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture. It is mainly offered in ramen specialty shops, Chinese restaurants, and street stalls in the Fukuoka region.
• Inaniwa udon📍 AkitaInaniwa Udon is a hand-stretched dried udon noodle originating from Inaniwa-cho, Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture. It is considered one of Japan's three great udon noodles. There is also 'Inaniwa Somen' made using the same method.
• Karasumi📍 NagasakiKarasumi (Japanese: からすみ or wūyú zǐ is a food item made by salting mullet roe pouch and drying it in sunlight. It is a softer analog of Mediterranean bottarga.
• Kitakata ramen📍 FukushimaKitakata ramen (喜多方ラーメン) is a kind of ramen that originated in Kitakata, Japan.
• Kobe beef📍 HyōgoKobe beef is Wagyu beef from the Tajima strain of Japanese Black cattle, raised in Japan's Hyōgo Prefecture around Kobe city, according to rules set out by the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association. The meat is a delicacy, valued for its flavour, tenderness and fatty, well-marbled texture. Kobe beef can be prepared as steak, sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, sashimi, and teppanyaki. Within Japan, Kobe is one of the three Sandai Wagyū, the "three big beefs", along with Matsusaka beef and Ōmi beef or Yonezawa beef.
• Konowata📍 AichiKonowata is a kind of shiokara, made from sea cucumber intestines. It is one of Japan's Chinmi.
• Matsusaka beef📍 MieMatsusaka beef is the meat of Japanese Black cattle reared under strict conditions in the Matsusaka region of Mie in Japan. It has a high fat-to-meat ratio. Within Japan, Matsusaka is one of the three Sandai Wagyū, the "three big beefs", the others being Kobe beef and Ōmi beef or Yonezawa beef. About 2,500 cows are slaughtered for Matsusaka beef each year; the meat commands high prices.
• Mizusawa udon📍 GunmaMizusawa Udon is a specialty noodle dish from the area around Mizusawa, Ikaho-cho, Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture.
• 🍶Nada Sake (Nada-Gogō)📍 HyōgoJapan's largest sake-producing region, spanning the five Nada-Gogō districts across Kobe and Nishinomiya in Hyōgo. Its mineral-rich 'miyamizu' spring water and Yamada-Nishiki rice yield a dry, robust style long known as 'otoko-zake' (men's sake).
• 🍶Saijō Sake📍 HiroshimaHigashi-Hiroshima's brewing town, counted among Japan's three great sake regions with Nada and Fushimi. Regarded as the birthplace of soft-water brewing, its Sakagura-dōri lines up historic breweries and hosts the autumn Sake Matsuri.
• Sanuki udon📍 KagawaSanuki udon (讃岐うどん) is an udon noodle dish most popular in the Kagawa prefecture in Japan, but is now easily found throughout the neighboring Kansai region and much of Japan. It is characterized by its square shape and flat edges with rather chewy texture, and in an authentic sense, ingredients should be from among those local specialties as wheat flour, Niboshi dried young sardines to cook broth for soup and dipping sauce. Many udon shops now specialize solely in sanuki-style chewy udon, and are usually identified by the text "sanuki" in hiragana (さぬき) appearing in the name of the shop or on the sign.
• Sapporo ramen📍 HokkaidoSapporo Ramen is a common term for the variety of ramen that originated in Sapporo City, Hokkaido. It is a well-known local specialty ramen (local gourmet).
• uni📍 Fukui
• Ōmi beef📍 ShigaŌmi beef is a regional variety of wagyū originating in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The Ōmi in “Ōmi beef” refers to Ōmi Province, the traditional name for the area which became Shiga prefecture. Ōmi beef is generally considered one of the three top brands of wagyū, along with Kobe beef and Matsusaka beef.