Tochigi is one of prefectures in Kanto area, and there are many good foods from Tochigi such as strawberries grown in fresh air, Utsunomiya Gyoza, Sano Ramen (Local), Mimi Udon noodle, Kenchin Jiru Soup, Imo (potato) fries and so on! I also introduce some traditional facts on food too. Let’s find what you should eat in Tochigi Prefecture in Japan!
Utsunomiya Gyoza – Utsunomiya
Utsunomiya is known for Gyoza, and there are many Gyoza restaurants. It is fun to eat, compare, and find your favorite restaurant 🙂
I went to 3 restaurants in a day when my friends and I just thought we wanted to eat Gyoza and got there when i was in college.
Sano Ramen – Sano
It is local ramen from Sano city, Tochigi.
It had been eaten a lot from past such as there were over 160 ramen shops when the population was 50K people in the early Showa era. The main industry in Sano was textile, and there was Ramen delivery services for workers who were busy.
The feature of Sano Ramen is, wrinkled noodles and clear soy sauce soup.
Panju – Ashikaga
It’s not “originally” from Ashikaga, Tochigi, however it’s still very famous local food loved by both locals and tourists.
Panju is a snack that has Anko (sweet red bean paste) inside, and pancake-ish dough outside. In Ashikaga, Okada’s Panju is very known that I also tried (the picture above).
Okada’s Panju
>> Ashikaga : Best Things To Do
Mimi Udon Noodle
This is also from Sano City, Tochigi. They make this at the end of year, and they serve this to their guest on New year’s day and some days after.
It is made by flour, and named after its shape looking like “mimi” = ear.
The soup is soy sauce base, and they put some mashrooms and veggies with Mimi Udon.
There is also a saying, that if you eat it in new year’s season, you will NOT listen to any bad things and rumors, and you will have a year with healthiness, and so on.
You can’t really find it in other prefectures (as long as I know), so you should try it there if you are interested in 😉
Nikko Yuba
Nikko Yuba is known well. Yuba is what they can get when heating soy milk after it becomes soy milk from soy beans. And it was very important source of protein before because there is no ocean around Tochigi and they couldn’t get protein from fish.
It’s eaten in Kyoto too, but the difference of Yuba between Kyoto and Tochigi is texture and shape. It’s flat, soft and smooth in Kyoto, on the other hand it is piled (shaped round), and voluminous in Tochigi.
You can find Yuba on top of Soba noodle, Yuba fries, and snack!
Simotsukare
People started eating it around 1781-1789, and it was for shrine at the time. They invented this to use leftovers efficiently since they didn’t have enough great food in February.
It is simmered with a head of salmon, beans, Aburaage (Fried Tofu), grated Daikon (Japanese radish) and carrot. Beans are from Setsubun (an event at the beginning of Feb).
I personally have never tried this, and i hope i have a chance to try some time soon!
Imo (potato) Fry
It is Sano-style Potato fries; steamed, stuck, covered with Panko (bread crumbs), fried, and put sauce on. It is very nice quick snack which fills your stomach up 🥔
Strawberry
Tochigi is the place to produce most number of strawberry in Japan over 50 years. Especially, the strawberries named “Sky berry” and “Tochi Otome” is famous ones. In Tochigi, you can also find strawberry picking 🍓 I did it before and had a lot of strawberries 💕
Sky Berry
Sky berry is the original strawberry from Tochigi, it is a big size, beautiful shape, and sweet. You don’t often find them at grocery store in even Kanto area. Although, you can find them at department store where you can buy a bit good stuff.
Tochi Otome
Tochi Otome is one of strawberries that you’d find at many places as same as Amaou Strawberry from Fukuoka. It is not expensive, so it is often eaten and used for a lot of purpose.
Lemon Gyunyu (Milk)
This is very unique beverage known from Tochigi. Also the official name is “Kanto Tochigi Lemon”.
Technically, there is NO lemon juice in it, but it tastes a bit sour and many people love it!
Reference
- Sano City Sightseeing Info (Japanese): http://sano-kankokk.jp/
- Skyberry Official Website (Japanese): https://tochigi-skyberry.jp/
- Lemon gyunyu (milk) (Japanese): https://www.tochigimilk.co.jp/remon-story.html
- Tochigi prefecture Board of education (Japanese): https://www.tochigi-edu.ed.jp/furusato/detail.jsp?p=54&page=1
It is not far away from Tokyo though, you can find many different foods in Tochigi. That is one of my favorite things in Japan.
