Regional food and famous sweets of Yamagata
Four distinct regions share a strong culture of seasonal vegetables, fruit, preserved foods, soba, and autumn hot-pot gatherings.
Yamagata is part of the Hokkaido & Tohoku region. This page lists the guides currently available in English.
14 guides in English
- Inago no TsukudaniYamagata
Inago no tsukudani cooks cleaned rice grasshoppers in soy sauce, sugar and mirin until glossy, sweet-salty and crisp-chewy. The insects remain visibly...
- Shonai Dongara-jiruYamagata
Dongara-jiru cuts a large fatty winter cod into flesh, head, bones, liver, milt and other usable parts, then cooks them with daikon, scallion and tofu...
- Yamagata Chrysanthemum OhitashiYamagata
This autumn dish briefly blanches edible chrysanthemum petals and seasons them with vinegar, soy sauce or dashi, preserving their floral aroma, color...
- Yamagata DashiYamagata
Yamagata dashi is a refreshing relish of finely chopped cucumber, eggplant, myoga, shiso, green onion, and other summer vegetables seasoned with soy...
- Yamagata Fuki MameYamagata
Fuki mame gently cooks peeled green peas with sugar until each bean is tender and floury but still recognizable, creating a pale green, mildly sweet...
- Yamagata ImoniYamagata
Imoni is an autumn hot pot centered on taro and shared outdoors with family, friends, coworkers, or community groups. In inland Yamagata, the familiar...
- Yamagata Kujira MochiYamagata
Kujira mochi is a firm, chewy steamed sweet made from rice flour, sugar and often walnuts, with soy sauce or miso creating brown savory-sweet...
- Yamagata Natto-jiruYamagata
Natto-jiru grinds fermented soybeans into a paste and dissolves it into miso soup with tofu, konnyaku, fried tofu, seri water dropwort and other...
- Yamagata Noshi UmeYamagata
Noshi ume spreads a smooth jelly made from ripe plum puree and agar into a thin sheet, traditionally held between dried bamboo leaves for a bright...
- Yamagata OmizukeYamagata
Omizuke finely chops Yamagata seisai greens with daikon, carrot, perilla seeds and other available vegetables, then pickles the mixture with salt and...
- Yamagata Seisai-zukeYamagata
Seisai-zuke pickles the large, thick and gently pungent leaves of Yamagata seisai, a mustard green related to takana. Leaves are lightly dried...
- Yamagata Tama KonnyakuYamagata
Tama konnyaku simmers small round konnyaku balls in a dark soy seasoning, often with dried squid added to deepen the savory flavor.
- Yonezawa HiyajiruYamagata
Yonezawa hiyajiru combines blanched seasonal greens, especially yukina, with rehydrated dried ingredients simmered in a seasoned stock, then cools and...
- Zao Onsen IgamochiYamagata
Igamochi wraps smooth red-bean paste in a tender dough blended from non-glutinous and glutinous rice, then places two or three yellow rice grains on...