Teppai: Where to Eat & What It Costs (Kagawa)

Teppai is a Kagawa local dish of crucian carp caught in irrigation ponds, dressed with vinegared miso alongside daikon, green onion, and other vegetables. The dry Sanuki plain has long relied on many ponds, and the wisdom of using every fish caught during the winter pond draining gave birth to this festive dish.

Highlights

Carefully prepared carp with the fishiness tamed pairs well with a mellow white miso vinegar dressing. Its clean tartness and the richness typical of nuta keep you coming back. Ingredients and seasoning vary a little by region and household.

Enjoying the Seasons

The peak is winter, when ponds are drained in the ike boshi tradition. It has been passed down as a dish for festive gatherings such as the new year and celebrations.

Access and Basic Information

It is enjoyed as local cuisine across the prefecture, including Manno town and southern Takamatsu where ponds are plentiful. Being strongly a home dish, few restaurants serve it all the time, so it is mainly available at local cuisine restaurants and community events. Seeking out shops that handle it in the winter peak or by advance reservation raises your chances of meeting it.

Practical Travel Notes

• It is hard for travelers to find on demand at restaurants, so checking with local cuisine restaurants in advance or looking up winter community events makes it easier to find.
• The peak is winter when ponds are drained, and it is often served at celebratory gatherings around the new year.
• Because it uses raw crucian carp, freshness and preparation matter, so enjoying it at a trusted local cuisine restaurant is the safe choice.
• As a tart dressed dish, it also works as a palate cleanser between richer foods.

A Quick Tip

The tartness of the vinegared miso goes wonderfully with sake. A chilled cup brings out the local flavor even more. Since serving shops are limited, if you want to try it, inquiring with a local cuisine restaurant before fixing your itinerary is the sure move.

Souvenir and Takeaway Tips

Teppai is a Kagawa local dish in which funa (crucian carp) caught in irrigation ponds is dressed with vinegared miso along with vegetables such as daikon radish and green onion. It is a dish unique to the Sanuki Plain with its many irrigation ponds, and in its original form it uses cold-season winter funa. In recent years it is sometimes made with sayori (halfbeak) or wakasagi (pond smelt) instead of funa. Since it is best freshly made, it is not suited to taking home, but you can enjoy it at local cuisine restaurants and in homes in the prefecture. The season is winter. Enjoying its simple, refreshing vinegared-miso flavor is highly recommended.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Best season: Winter. The "kan-buna" (cold-season crucian carp) caught from autumn into winter, when the irrigation ponds are drained, has a good layer of fat and firm flesh, with less of the muddy smell typical of freshwater fish.
• Main areas where it is handed down: The whole of the prefecture. Crucian carp are still farmed in about 300 irrigation ponds within the prefecture, and production is among the highest in Japan, with shipments going outside the prefecture as well (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries).
• Figures behind the dish: Kagawa Prefecture had 12,269 irrigation ponds as of April in Reiwa 3 (2021). That is 2,350 fewer than the 14,619 recorded in March of Heisei 12 (2000) (Kagawa Prefecture Land Improvement Division).
• The reality of the ingredients: Crucian carp has become hard to obtain, and today the dish is more often made with konoshiro gizzard shad, young Spanish mackerel (sagoshi) or mackerel. There is also a way of making it that uses the juice of daidai bitter orange instead of vinegar.
• Origin of the name: Because crucian carp was called "teppo" (gun), the name "teppo-ae" is said to have become slurred into "teppai."

* Opening hours and prices at individual restaurants vary from shop to shop.

(Sources: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, "Our Local Cuisine: Teppai (Kagawa Prefecture)"; Kagawa Prefecture Land Improvement Division, "Total Number of Irrigation Ponds in the Prefecture (as of April in Reiwa 3 (2021))")

Information Sources

This article is compiled from tourist information for Kagawa Prefecture together with information published by the individual establishments. Prices, menus and seasons are subject to change, so please check the official information of each establishment for details.

Sightseeing Checklist

• Budget guide: From a few hundred yen a portion, served as a single dish of local cuisine
• Where to eat it: Local cuisine restaurants and izakaya pubs within Kagawa Prefecture
• Recommended time of day: Both lunch and dinner. The season is winter
• Avoiding the crowds: Only a limited number of restaurants serve it, so check in advance
• Enjoy it together with: Local sake of Sanuki, other local dishes, and Sanuki udon