Fukushima Food Guide: Sauce Katsudon, Kitakata Ramen & Peaches

Fukushima Prefecture is a treasure house of food, where the three regions of Aizu, Nakadori and Hamadori each nurture a rich culinary culture. The appeal lies in its variety: the ramen of Kitakata, known as the town of storehouses, the sauce katsudon that is an Aizu speciality, and juicy peaches from a prefecture that ranks second in Japan for production. Combine sightseeing with a taste tour that only Fukushima can offer.

Sauce Katsudon (Aizu Style)

Aizu-Wakamatsu's signature bowl — crispy pork cutlet soaked in Worcestershire sauce and placed over rice. Freshly fried, crisp cutlet is dipped in a sweet-savoury Worcestershire sauce and laid on rice spread with shredded cabbage; unlike the version bound with egg, its appeal is a different kind of juiciness. Widely loved at diners and specialist restaurants across the Aizu region, it is generous in volume and thoroughly satisfying.

Kitakata Ramen

One of Japan's most famous regional ramen. Kitakata, the town of storehouses, has ramen shops lined up one after another, and the style is characterised by a light soy-sauce soup paired with thick, flat, wavy noodles. The culture of "asa-ra" — eating ramen in the morning — has also taken root here and is popular with visitors. It can be enjoyed together with a stroll through the townscape of storehouses.

Fukushima Peaches and Fruit

Fukushima Prefecture is one of Japan's leading fruit-growing areas, and ranks second in the country for peach production. Akatsuki, developed through repeated cultivation improvements by the prefecture's research institutes, is the mainstay variety accounting for about half of the peaches grown in the prefecture, and is celebrated as sweet and juicy. Around Fukushima City there is an area lined with orchards known as the "Fruit Line," where seasonal fruit picking can be enjoyed — peaches in summer, grapes and apples in autumn.

Kozuyu — The Bowl Indispensable to Aizu's Special Occasions

If you visit Aizu, kozuyu is a dish to be sure to try. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' "Uchi no Kyodo Ryori" (Our Local Cuisine), the name is said to be a corruption of "koju no tsuyu," and it has been eaten for more than a hundred years. It used to be served divided between two bowls, called "ichi-no-ju" and "ni-no-ju" (or "ichi-no-tsuyu" and "ni-no-tsuyu"), but from around the late 1980s it came to be served combined in a single bowl as "kozuyu."

It is served in a shallow Aizu-lacquer dish called a teshiozara. The contrast between the vermilion of the lacquer and the carrot and wood-ear mushroom asserting their colours in the clear broth is beautiful — a dish where vessel and food seem to be complete only together. The stock is taken from dried scallop, and wood-ear mushroom, warabi bracken and taro are simmered in it. In Aizu, far from the sea, seafood carried in as dried goods meets the produce of the mountains in a single bowl — the combination itself tells the history of an inland food culture.

Using seven or nine kinds of ingredients is considered auspicious, and the dish is indispensable at ceremonial occasions, weddings above all. It has also been served when entertaining guests at celebrations and festivals. Seasoning and the combination of ingredients differ from household to household, and each family's own distinctive kozuyu has been handed down. The area of transmission is the Aizu region excluding Minami-Aizu.

Ika Ninjin — The Winter Preserve Handed Down in Fukushima City

Another dish known as a taste of the Fukushima home is ika ninjin. Dried squid and carrot are cut into fine strips and steeped in a sweet-savoury marinade of soy sauce with coarse sugar or mirin, making a standing side dish that has likewise been eaten for more than a hundred years.

It was originally a winter preserve. In Fukushima, where snow is heavy and crops are hard to harvest in winter, ika ninjin steeped in marinade kept well and was therefore highly valued. A connection with Hokkaido's matsumae-zuke is sometimes pointed out, but they differ in that matsumae-zuke contains kombu kelp while ika ninjin does not.

The chew of the dried squid and the crisp bite of the carrot: the more you chew, the more the squid's umami melts into the sweet-savoury marinade, making it good both as a dish with rice and as an accompaniment to sake. It is eaten year-round today, but is still cherished as a local dish indispensable at New Year, and in recent years variations have appeared as snack foods, kakiage fritters and mixed rice. The main area of transmission is Fukushima City. It is intriguing that this wisdom of winter preservation lives on in the very same place known for its peaches.

Nishin no Sansho-zuke — Fish That Reached Landlocked Aizu

Aizu is an inland area far from the sea. That a culture of eating fish nevertheless grew here was thanks to preservation techniques and distribution. Its symbol is nishin no sansho-zuke, herring marinated with Japanese pepper leaves.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, in the Edo period migaki-nishin — dried herring from Hokkaido — began to circulate in the Aizu region. In Fukushima, where winter is long and crops cannot be gathered, migaki-nishin kept well and served as a source of protein, so it was greatly valued. However, being a dried product it had a distinctive off-odour, and the method of marinating it together with Japanese pepper leaves was devised to remove that and heighten the flavour.

It is made by layering Japanese pepper leaves and migaki-nishin alternately and marinating them in vinegar, sake and soy sauce. Traditionally it is prepared in a dedicated vessel of Aizu Hongo ware called a "nishin-bachi," and the vessel itself has been handed down as part of the dish. After several days to about a week of marinating it is ready to eat.

The clean, bracing scent of sansho that rises when the lid is lifted, the deep umami of the herring that emerges the more you chew, and the faint tingle left on the tongue — although a preserved food, it is also a dish for enjoying the fragrance of the season. It is most often eaten from spring to early summer, when sansho can be gathered. The area of transmission is the whole Aizu region, and it is especially well established around Aizu-Wakamatsu.

Enban Gyoza

Dumplings arranged in a large disc and pan-fried together — a speciality of Fukushima City with impressive visual impact.

Stick Cod (Bou-dara ni)

Aizu's preserved food tradition — dried pollock simmered in sweet soy sauce. A classic side dish and souvenir from the castle town.

Best Season and Access

Ramen and sauce katsudon are available year-round, while peaches are in season in summer. For access, take the JR Tohoku Shinkansen to Koriyama or Fukushima. For Aizu-Wakamatsu the Ban'etsu West Line is convenient. A journey around the rich flavours that differ from region to region, combined with Fukushima sights such as Tsurugajo Castle and the Goshikinuma ponds, is highly recommended.

Practical Information

• Standing as a peach-growing region: Fukushima Prefecture ranks second in Japan for peach production (Yamanashi Prefecture is first). Akatsuki, developed through repeated cultivation improvements by the prefecture's research institutes, is the mainstay variety accounting for about half of the peaches grown in the prefecture. Products certified under the prefectural brand include Sun Peach, Date no Mitsumomo and Ten.
• Season: Peaches are in season in summer. Kitakata ramen and sauce katsudon can be enjoyed year-round.
• Main areas where they are served: Sauce katsudon at diners and specialist restaurants in the Aizu region, beginning with Aizu-Wakamatsu; Kitakata ramen in the storehouse town of Kitakata City; peaches in the orchard-lined area around Fukushima City.
• Access: Take the JR Tohoku Shinkansen to Koriyama or Fukushima. For Aizu-Wakamatsu the JR Ban'etsu West Line is convenient.
• A caution about allergies: The wheat used in ramen noodles and in the batter of the cutlet is one of the "specified raw materials" that the Consumer Affairs Agency requires to be labelled. Peaches are a fruit of the rose family, and people with pollen allergies may experience oral allergy syndrome (itching or swelling of the mouth and throat).

Opening hours, closing days and prices at individual shops, and admission fees and opening periods at orchards, vary by establishment. Peach picking shifts earlier or later depending on weather and crop conditions, so please check in advance.

📚 Sources

• Fukushima Prefecture website, "Fukushima Prefecture Brand-Certified Products (Peaches)"
• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, "Bearing Area, Yield and Shipment of Peaches and Plums, 2024 Crop"
• Consumer Affairs Agency, "Information on Food Allergy Labelling"