Regional food and famous sweets of Kyoto
Court, temple, tea, and merchant traditions shaped an influential cuisine of vegetables, tofu, pickles, and elegant seasonal sweets.
Kyoto is part of the Kansai region. This page lists the guides currently available in English.
15 guides in English
- Kyoto Ajari Mochi
Ajari Mochi is a semi-fresh sweet made by Kyoto confectioner Mangetsu. A thin, moist and chewy baked dough containing glutinous-rice flour and egg...
- Kyoto Imobo
Imobo slowly simmers large ebi-imo taro with rehydrated bodara, dried cod, until the sticky tuber and fibrous fish share a sweet-savory broth.
- Kyoto Kamo Nasu Dengaku
Kamo nasu dengaku thickly cuts Kyoto's large round eggplant, fries or slowly sears it until the dense flesh turns creamy, then finishes it with a...
- Kyoto Minazuki: Triangular Uiro with Azuki
Minazuki is white uiro topped with azuki and cut into triangles resembling ice, eaten in Kyoto for the Nagoshi purification on 30 June.
- Kyoto Nishin Soba with Sweet-Simmered Dried Herring
Nishin soba combines hot buckwheat noodles and clear dashi with migaki nishin, dried herring slowly simmered until tender in a sweet soy seasoning. As...
- Kyoto Senmaizuke of Thinly Sliced Shogoin Turnip
Senmaizuke thinly slices large Shogoin turnips, lightly salts them and seasons the translucent rounds with kombu, vinegar, sugar and chili for a...
- Kyoto Shippoku Udon
Kyoto shippoku udon arranges simmered shiitake, yuba, ita-fu or nama-fu, kamaboko and mitsuba over udon in a clear dashi broth. Here shippoku conveys...
- Kyoto Suguki: Salted Lactic-Fermented Turnip Greens
Suguki pickles the roots and leaves of a Kyoto turnip relative with salt, heavy pressure and warm-room lactic fermentation.
- Kyoto Uji Kintoki: Matcha and Azuki Shaved Ice
Uji Kintoki is Japanese shaved ice flavored with a green matcha syrup and served with sweet azuki bean paste. Its essential contrast is...
- Kyoto White-Miso Zoni: Round Mochi and Auspicious Vegetables
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- Kyoto Yatsuhashi: Baked, Soft and Bean-Paste-Filled Forms
Yatsuhashi is a Kyoto confection made chiefly from rice flour, sugar and cinnamon called nikki. Original yatsuhashi is a thin curved baked cracker...
- Kyoto Yuba
Kyoto yuba is the thin protein-rich film that forms on gently heated soy milk and is lifted sheet by sheet. It is sold fresh or dried.
- Kyoto Yudofu
Yudofu gently warms large tofu cubes in water with kombu and serves them with soy dipping sauce or ponzu and garnishes such as scallion, grated...
- Manganji Sweet Peppers Simmered with Jako
This Kyoto home dish pairs large, long Manganji sweet peppers with chirimen jako, tiny dried sardines, in a lightly sweetened soy broth. The peppers...
- Ohara Shibazuke
Shibazuke is a fermented pickle associated with Ohara, Kyoto. Traditional nama-shibazuke ferments summer eggplant, aromatic crinkled red shiso, and...
