Fukui Food Guide: Echizen Crab, Sauce Katsudon & Heshiko

Echizen Kani (Snow Crab)

The king of winter flavours raised by the Sea of Japan. "Echizen-gani" are male snow crabs landed at ports within Fukui Prefecture (Echizen, Mikuni, Tsuruga, Obama and others) that carry a yellow tag stamped with the name of the port where they were landed. On 27 September 2018 they were registered under the Geographical Indication (GI) protection system, and the tags now also carry the GI mark. Female snow crabs, incidentally, are called "seiko-gani." Boiled, grilled, as sashimi or in a hotpot — whatever the cooking method, you can savour the rich sweetness and umami of Fukui's signature branded crab.

Sauce Katsudon

The soul food of the people of Fukui. A thinly cut pork cutlet is fried until crisp, dipped in a special Worcester sauce and laid on top of rice — a simple bowl with great depth. The Fukui style is to lay no cabbage underneath, and even the rice soaked with sauce is delicious. Generous in volume, it is thoroughly satisfying.

Heshiko

A traditional fermented food of the Wakasa region, in which fish such as mackerel are salted, packed in rice bran and matured slowly. The rich umami and saltiness that spread as you chew make it ideal alongside hot rice or as an accompaniment to sake. Eaten lightly grilled, or thinly sliced and enjoyed sashimi-style, it is a preserved food that is indispensable on Fukui tables.

Echizen Oroshi Soba

A Fukui speciality in which dark, whole-grain buckwheat noodles are topped with pungent grated daikon, bonito dashi, spring onion and bonito flakes. The sharp grated daikon and the fragrance of the soba harmonise beautifully; cold and smooth on the throat, it is a rustic delight you could eat bowl after bowl of. The name "Echizen soba" is said to date from 1947, when the Showa Emperor visited Fukui Prefecture, ate two servings of oroshi soba, and in later years still recalled it fondly as "that Echizen soba…".

Habutae Mochi

A famous Fukui confection that takes its name from "habutae," a kind of silk fabric. Made from glutinous rice, sugar and starch syrup, the mochi is as smooth as silk with a melting texture. Its refined sweetness has made it a long-loved accompaniment to tea and a favourite souvenir.

Best Season

According to Fukui Prefecture's official information, the Echizen crab fishing season runs from 6 November to 20 March of the following year for male crabs; from 6 November to 31 December for the female "seiko-gani"; and from 19 February to 20 March for "mizu-gani," crabs that have just moulted and have soft shells. The other specialities can be enjoyed all year round. There are many local-cuisine restaurants in Fukui City and Echizen City.

Access

Local-cuisine restaurants are concentrated in Fukui City and Echizen City. Echizen crab can be enjoyed at ryokan restaurants in Echizen Town and Mikuni during the male crab season, 6 November to 20 March of the following year (female seiko-gani only until 31 December).

Abura-age and Atsu-age: The Table That Spends the Most in Japan

No account of Fukui is complete without abura-age (deep-fried tofu). According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' "Our Local Cuisine" project, in the Family Income and Expenditure Survey of the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (households of two or more people, average for 2017–2019), Fukui Prefecture has ranked first in Japan for spending on abura-age for more than 50 years. What is more, "abura-age" in Fukui means the thick, substantial, heavy kind that other prefectures call "atsu-age."

Behind this lies the region's deep devotion to Jodo Shinshu Buddhism. Hoonko, the greatest annual observance, held from autumn into the new year around the anniversary of the death of the founder Shinran, is called "Honko-san" or "Okosama" in Fukui, and dishes using atsu-age have long been served as a feast at its ceremonial meals (otoki). It is said that almost every neighbourhood once had at least one tofu shop, where soybeans were exchanged for tofu and abura-age, and that the food took root widely in the home as a result.

The classic way to eat it is "atsu-age no nitano" (simmered atsu-age). The oil is drawn off with boiling water, a cross-shaped cut is made so the flavour soaks in, and it is simmered gently over a low heat for about 15 minutes in dashi, sake, mirin and soy sauce, with a little ginger juice added just before the heat is turned off. When you put your chopsticks in, the outside is firm while the inside is fluffy and full of broth, and the fragrance of soybeans rises up. It is an everyday Fukui food that can be enjoyed year-round at home and in restaurants, not only during the Hoonko season.

Decchi Yokan: A Fukui Winter Tradition

"Decchi yokan" is a mizu-yokan (soft sweet bean jelly) eaten in the cold season. Mizu-yokan is generally a summer sweet, but in Fukui it has been enjoyed as a feature of winter. There are several accounts of the name's origin; a well-known one holds that it began with the yokan brought home by young people who went to Kyoto as decchi (apprentices) from the Taisho into the Showa era, returning to their home towns at New Year. It is also said that because they thinned the yokan with water and remade it in order to share it around the neighbourhood, it became mizu-yokan-like, and that it came to be eaten in winter, when a low sugar content is not a problem. Another theory is that confectioners used the word "decchiru" to mean "to knead together."

Its size and the way it is eaten are distinctive too. Today it comes in a flat box about A4 size and 2 centimetres deep, already scored, and you scoop it out along the cuts with the wooden spatula provided. It has a smooth mouthfeel, and because it uses less adzuki bean and sugar than ordinary yokan, the price is affordable. The old custom is to eat it while sitting under the kotatsu. In the Reihoku area it is also called "mizu-yokan," and some shops use brown sugar. It is made by wagashi shops around the prefecture, and Ono City even holds a "Decchi Yokan Festival" where you can taste and compare.

The "Saba Kaido," the Road That Linked Wakasa and Kyoto

Behind heshiko lies the history of the road that linked Wakasa and Kyoto. Heshiko is a traditional dish of the Wakasa area and the Echizen coast, in which the innards are removed from the fish, which is then salted and further packed in rice bran, making long-term storage possible. A precious source of protein for getting through harsh winters, it is said to have already been made by the middle of the Edo period. As for the name, one theory holds that fishermen used the word "heshikomu" ("to press in") for packing fish into barrels, and that "heshikomareta mono" was shortened; another is that it is a corruption of "hishio," the liquid that comes out during salting.

Seafood caught in Wakasa was carried to Kyoto along the "Wakasa Kaido," and because it was mainly salted mackerel (saba) that was transported, in recent years this road has come to be called the "Saba Kaido" (Mackerel Road). Heshiko is made not only with mackerel but also with sardine, squid and pufferfish, and in the Reihoku area "konuka (konka) iwashi," sardines pickled in rice bran, is widely eaten. With a strong salty umami and a flavour rather like smoked food, "narezushi" made with heshiko was once an indispensable feast for special occasions such as New Year. Being a long-keeping preserved food, it can be enjoyed all year round.

Practical Information

• Echizen crab fishing seasons (official Fukui Prefecture information): male crabs, 6 November to 20 March of the following year; female "seiko-gani," 6 November to 31 December; "mizu-gani," which have just moulted and have soft shells, 19 February to 20 March. Fishing for seiko-gani ends within the year to conserve stocks, so they cannot be eaten after the new year.
• Definition of Echizen crab: snow crab landed at ports within Fukui Prefecture (Echizen, Mikuni, Tsuruga, Obama and others), fitted with a yellow tag as proof of origin. The tag is stamped with the fishing port where the crab was landed. The yellow tag was introduced by the Echizen Town Fisheries Cooperative in 1997, the first of its kind in Japan.
• GI (Geographical Indication) registration: "Echizen-gani" was registered under the Geographical Indication protection system on 27 September 2018, and the yellow tag carries the GI mark.
• How to eat Echizen oroshi soba: According to Fukui City's official tourism website, there are three ways to add the dashi: pour the dashi and the grated daikon on separately; put the grated daikon into the dashi and pour it over; or put only the juice of the grated daikon into the dashi and pour it over. When you have finished, enjoy the soba-yu (noodle-cooking water) together with the dashi.
• Origin of Echizen oroshi soba: It is said to date from 1947, when the Showa Emperor visited the prefecture and ate two servings of oroshi soba, later recalling it fondly as "that Echizen soba…".
• Note on allergies: Buckwheat and crab (crustaceans) are both "specified raw materials" that the Consumer Affairs Agency requires to be labelled on packaged processed foods. Buckwheat and crustacean allergies can lead to severe symptoms, so if you have any concerns, be sure to check with the restaurant in advance.

*Opening hours and prices at ryokan restaurants and individual shops vary from establishment to establishment. Many restaurants serve Echizen crab at market price and by reservation only, so booking in advance is recommended.*

*(Sources: Fukui Prefecture website, "Echizen-gani, King of Winter Flavours"; Echizen Town official tourism website "Echizen Kanko Navi"; Fukui City official tourism website "Fukuiro"; Consumer Affairs Agency, "Information on Food Allergy Labelling")*