Nara Food Guide: Kakinoha Sushi, Miwa Somen & Nara Pickles

Nara has many rustic yet profound flavours unique to an ancient capital, beginning with kakinoha sushi, Miwa somen and Nara-zuke pickles. Born inland, far from the sea, from the wisdom of preservation and the craft of fermentation, its dishes are full of a savour backed by long history. Sampled between visits to temples and shrines, Nara's local cuisine conveys the history and culture of the land and is one of the great pleasures of a trip here.

Kakinoha Sushi

Kakinoha sushi is a pressed sushi said to have been enjoyed in the households of Gojo and along the Yoshino River in Nara Prefecture since at least the middle of the Edo period. Slices of mackerel or salmon and vinegared rice are wrapped one by one in fragrant persimmon leaves and pressed; it was born of the wisdom of preserving fish in mountainous districts far from the sea. The faint fragrance of the persimmon leaf transfers to the sushi, creating a distinctive flavour. Because it keeps well and looks beautiful, it is also popular as a souvenir. The colourful sushi that appears when you open the leaf is one of the flavours that represent Nara.

Miwa Somen

Miwa somen is hand-stretched somen made in the Miwa district of Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture, an area also said to be the birthplace of hand-stretched somen. Born at the foot of Omiwa Shrine, the noodles are stretched thin by hand in the cold of winter, giving them a firm bite and a smooth feel on the throat. Although extremely fine, they have a solid texture and do not go soft easily even when simmered. Delicious chilled with dipping broth, and equally good served hot as "nyumen," they can be enjoyed all year round.

Nara-zuke Pickles and Local Flavours

Nara-zuke is a pickle made by repeatedly re-pickling vegetables such as white gourd melon, cucumber and watermelon in sake lees, and it is the preserved food that represents Nara. Dyed a tortoiseshell amber, Nara-zuke is characterised by the mellow aroma of sake lees, a deep sweetness and a distinctive flavour, making it perfect with rice or as an accompaniment to sake. Besides this, the ancient capital has many rustic but deeply flavoured local dishes, such as chagayu — a breakfast unique to Nara — and dishes made with Yamato vegetables. Here you can savour a food culture shaped by history.

Yamato Vegetables

Nara's traditional heirloom vegetables — Yamato-imo yam, Yamato round eggplant and Yamato-mana mustard greens.

Best Season and Access

Nara's food can be enjoyed all year round, but the way Miwa somen is eaten changes with the season: chilled somen in summer, hot nyumen in winter. For access, there are many restaurants serving local specialities around JR and Kintetsu Nara stations, while the authentic taste of Miwa somen is best enjoyed around Omiwa Shrine in Sakurai City. Combining kakinoha sushi and Nara-zuke with a tour of Nara's famous sights such as Todaiji and Kasuga Taisha is recommended. Do take the time to savour the rustic, profound flavours the ancient capital has nurtured over its long history.

Chagayu: "Morning in Yamato Breaks with Chagayu"

Affectionately called "okaisan" in Nara, chagayu is rice cooked in brewed hojicha tea, characterised by being light and free of stickiness. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' "Our Local Cuisine" project, it is handed down throughout the prefecture and was such a part of daily life that people said "morning in Yamato breaks with chagayu" — a representative Nara meal.

Its history is astonishingly old. In the Omizutori rite held every March at Todaiji, which has more than 1,200 years of history, the names "gobo" and "gecha" appear in the menu of the rengyoshu practitioners. "Gobo" is understood to be a soupy chagayu and "gecha" rice boiled in hojicha with the liquid drained off, suggesting that chagayu has been eaten for 1,200 years or more. It is also said that the beginning of tea cultivation in Japan was when Kobo Daishi (Kukai) sowed tea seeds brought back from Tang China at Butsuryuji temple in Uda City at the start of the ninth century, which speaks to the deep connection between Nara and tea.

In Yamato many households cooked their rice in the evening, and chagayu is said to have spread as a way of eating cold rice warm. To make it more filling, there was also a custom of adding sweet potato, pumpkin, taro, chestnuts or kakimochi rice crackers. Today few households make it every morning, but it can be tasted on hotel breakfast menus and at restaurants in the prefecture. In Yamazoe Village, the bamboo tea bags used for brewing the leaves are still handed down.

Asuka Nabe: A Milk-Based Hotpot Unique to the Ancient Capital

"Asuka nabe" is a Nara local dish in which chicken and vegetables are simmered in milk and dashi. It is handed down in the central and southern part of the Nara Basin. In the Asuka period an envoy who came to Nara from Tang China introduced a dairy product resembling condensed milk and presented it to Emperor Kotoku, who was greatly pleased, and dairy cattle came to be kept at court — this is said to be the beginning of milk drinking in Japan. At the time it was a drink for the nobility, but eventually monks also came to consume it, and simmering the meat of the chickens they kept in milk is said to be the origin of Asuka nabe. In the days when milk was expensive, goat's milk was used, and the present-day form was devised in the early Showa era as a speciality dish of Asuka.

It is eaten all year round, but because it warms the body, opportunities to eat it increase especially in winter. Since plenty of vegetables and the chicken give off their own broth, it is also delicious to finish by adding udon. In recent years an adaptation called "Yamato nabe," which uses soy milk instead of cow's milk, has appeared and is served at restaurants in the prefecture.

Yoshino Hon-Kuzu and Kuzu Mochi: A Translucent Sweet Born of Midwinter Water

Kuzu mochi is a wagashi made from kuzu (arrowroot) starch, transparent and delightfully springy. The name "kuzu" is said to come from the Kuzubito, mountain people who lived in the Yoshino district of Nara Prefecture and made and sold kuzu starch from the plant. Kuzu starch is a natural food, made by repeatedly refining the starch contained in the kuzu root using only midwinter groundwater and then drying it for two to three months, with no additives whatsoever. Products made of 100 per cent kuzu starch are called "Yoshino hon-kuzu," and the "Yoshino-zarashi" method, in which the starch is repeatedly exposed to cold water in the depths of winter, is a traditional technique that has continued since the Edo period. The cold of the Yoshino district and its good-quality water have long produced high-quality kuzu starch.

Besides kuzu mochi, kuzu starch is used widely — in goma-dofu (sesame tofu), kuzuyu, kuzu manju and kuzukiri, and for thickening dishes. Kuzu mochi's elasticity stands out when chilled, but eating it freshly made, firmed in iced water yet still faintly warm inside, gives a wonderfully chewy, fluffy texture. As well as specialist shops and antenna shops, sweets such as ice cream and kakigori containing kuzu mochi, and zenzai with kuzu, are also sold.

Kakigori: Nara's Other Speciality, the "Sacred Ground of Ice"

In recent years Nara has also become known as a "town of kakigori" (shaved ice). Behind this lies Himuro Shrine. In 710, when the capital was moved to Heijo-kyo, the ice deity is said to have been enshrined at a huge rock called "Tsukihi-iwa" in the upper reaches of the Yoshiki River, which flows near Wakakusayama; an ice house was built at Tsukihi-iwa, and for about 70 years a ceremony was held each summer to present precious ice to the Heijo Palace. Even now, every May the "Kenpyo-sai" ice-offering festival brings together ice-making and refrigeration businesses from all over Japan, and pillars of ice with flowers and fish embedded in them are dedicated. A Kenpyo-sai is also held on 1 July at the Himuro Shrine in Tenri City.

The forty-second passage of Sei Shonagon's "The Pillow Book," "Elegant Things," records "shaved ice with amazura syrup, served in a new metal bowl," showing that Heian nobles cooled themselves with ice. Today kakigori is served at restaurants in the prefecture all year round, and because Nara is one of the Kinki region's leading strawberry-growing areas, menu items using Nara strawberries are especially popular. Photogenic creative kakigori is also on the rise, and the "Himuro Shirayuki Festival," which gathers the best-known shops, draws large crowds every year.

Practical Information

• Kakinoha sushi: It has been made widely, centred on Gojo and the Yoshino River basin, in places such as Kamikitayama Village, Kawakami Village, Higashiyoshino Village and Yoshino Town in Yoshino County. Traditionally salted mackerel was used; today salmon is also a standard.
• Seasonal limited edition: According to Nara Prefecture's official tourism website, "momiji kakinoha sushi," made with autumn-coloured persimmon leaves, is sold only from early November through December.
• Miwa somen: The production area is the Miwa district of Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture. Said to be the birthplace of hand-stretched somen, it has somen shops clustered at the foot of Omiwa Shrine. As well as chilled somen, it can be enjoyed all year round as hot "nyumen."
• Access: The nearest station for Omiwa Shrine and Miwa is Miwa Station on the JR Manyo Mahoroba Line (Sakurai Line). Local-cuisine restaurants in central Nara are concentrated around JR Nara Station and Kintetsu Nara Station.
• Note on alcohol: Nara-zuke contains alcohol because it is repeatedly pickled in sake lees. Those who are about to drive, children, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and people sensitive to alcohol should take care.
• Note on raw food: Kakinoha sushi is a raw food. Always observe the storage method and use-by date shown on the label. Because mackerel can cause histamine food poisoning, avoid carrying it around at room temperature for long periods.
• Note on allergies: Miwa somen uses wheat, and kakinoha sushi uses fish (mackerel and salmon). Anyone with a wheat, mackerel or salmon allergy should check the list of ingredients.

*Opening hours and prices at individual shops vary from establishment to establishment.*

*(Sources: Nara Prefecture official tourism website "Aoniyoshi Nara Tabi Net"; Nara Prefecture Miwa Somen Industrial Cooperative official website; Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)*