Snow country A-class gourmet
The restaurant serves handmade buckwheat noodles made with 100% buckwheat flour from a contract farmer in the area, using only natural water from Tsunan, the village of famous water. The handmade Ichimi chili pepper made from home-grown chili peppers is also very popular. The store closes as soon as it runs out, so early arrival is recommended.
Limited to 70 servings a day, with special attention to buckwheat flour, water, and dashi (soup stock)
National Route 117, which connects Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture, Tsunan Town, and Sakae Town, Nagano Prefecture, a tourist zone in snow country, is a soba highway dotted with famous soba restaurants. Among them, "Tomizawa Soba Restaurant" in Tsunan Town is particularly popular. This famous store has been making soba for nearly 100 years.
The buckwheat flour used is 100% locally produced. It is purchased from a farmer on the border with Nagano Prefecture and two contract farmers in the mountainous area of Nakasato. According to the owner, Mr. Tomizawa, for some reason the quality of soba is not stable, so he produces soba in two different areas to ensure that he always gets the best flour. The contract farmer with whom Mr. Tomizawa now has a business relationship is a farmer he places great trust in. He visited them for many years in search of the best buckwheat noodles, and finally found two very valuable farmers.
In order to produce truly delicious soba, he is particular about buckwheat flour and water, and he refuses to use tap water or imported ingredients that spoil the flavor of the soba. For water, we use local natural water, which is famous as the home of famous water.
There are two types of soba: handmade soba made from 100% local buckwheat flour and thinly sliced soba mixed with wheat flour.
The handmade 100% local buckwheat flour soba uses oyama bokuchi and nunonori (seaweed) as the binder, and all the processes of kneading, beating, and cutting are done by hand. The noodles are smooth, smooth, and firm. Since everything is done by hand, the shop can only make 70 servings a day. The shop is open from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., but the orders close as soon as they run out, so if you go for a late lunch, you may find that they have sold out.
The other type of thinly sliced soba has a gentle flavor with no harshness. The ingredients and production process are different from those used for handmade soba, making it softer and more rustic in taste.
The broth is made from two types of fish: bonito, which has an excellent aroma, and soda katsuo, which has a strong flavor. The ingredients used are honkare shavings and arabushi. The aroma is better when the shavings are thinly shaved," says the chef, who carefully shaves the aromatic back and turtle shavings every day. Of course, natural water is also used to make the broth, which brings out the best aroma and flavor, resulting in a delicious soba-tsuyu that is very smooth to the palate.
The condiments are asatsuki (azuki) and ichimi (red pepper). Asatsuki is an ingredient commonly found in the mountains of Niigata Prefecture and looks like rakkyo (Japanese cucumber). It is a condiment that is used in both soba restaurants and at home, and is a common condiment for soba in this region. It is not added to the soba sauce, but rather peeled off and picked up as you eat the soba.
Ichimi chili peppers are 100% homemade. The chili peppers are grown in her garden, dried, and then chopped into powder by the owner in a food processor. The completely additive-free Ichimi chili is characterized by its fragrance and refreshing spiciness. Some customers even ask for a small portion.
Please come and try the soba from this long-established soba shop, where everything from the buckwheat flour to the condiments is carefully selected.
The inn, which was built in a former wealthy farmer's mansion, offers "Yukiguni Gastronomy" filled with the wisdom and ingredients essential to life in the snow country, including mountain bounty such as wild vegetables and mushrooms, fermented foods, and vegetables preserved in a snow chamber. Experience the lifestyle and food culture of the snow country through the mealtime.
Culinary Reform at an Elegant Onsen Inn in a Relocated Gōnō no Yakata (wealthy farmer's mansion)
Behind the impressive nagaya-mon gate, "ryugon" spreads an approximately 4,000 tsubo garden and tasteful buildings that have been relocated from old farmhouses. The tasteful buildings, including a samurai residence from the Bunsei era and a local Muikamachi village headman's mansion, are almost entirely one-story structures, based on the belief that "one should not put people on top of people. A total of 32 guest rooms are spaciously arranged on the 16,000 tsubo site.
In the renovation conducted in July 2019, the hotel was reborn as an inn for guests to experience the climate of the heaviest snowfall area in Japan, while maintaining the traditions and atmosphere that the famous Ryokan "Ryugon" had preserved up to that time.
For example, the inn offers a variety of activities, such as "Doma Cooking," in which guests cook local dishes of the snow country with a grandmother who is a master of local cuisine and knows the snow country inside and out; "Countryside Experience," in which guests make fruit wine and hand-rolled rice crackers; and "Rice Paddy Drive," in which guests rent light trucks essential for work in the satoyama. We have also enhanced the lounge service to make it more comfortable for guests to stay at the inn and enjoy reading a book or to spend time working remotely while traveling.
The cuisine has undergone a series of gradual reforms, establishing a new style of local cuisine based on Japanese cooking techniques but incorporating ryugon's unique novelty. The restaurant also offers a charcoal grill in the center of the restaurant, where meat, fish, and other seasonal ingredients are slowly grilled by artisans and paired with locally produced sake and wines. Spending time in the tranquility of a satoyama with its rich natural surroundings will be a special moment that cannot be experienced in the city.
The restaurant uses many local ingredients such as wild vegetables, traditional vegetables, and Niigata wagyu beef, and each ingredient is prepared in a way that brings out the best of its flavor. All processed foods and seasonings are also made in Niigata. Miso and soy sauce are handmade by special order.
Traditional vegetables, local ingredients, and traditional cooking methods are also utilized in this new style of cuisine.
Murangotsu" is located on the second floor of "Echigo-Yuzawa HATAGO Isen," a certified Snow Country Class A gourmet ryokan, and is open to diners who are not staying at the ryokan.
Most of the ingredients used in the "Uonuma Cuisine" dishes are locally produced in Uonuma, including Yuzawa and Minami Uonuma. The ingredients are seasoned to make the best use of their natural flavors.
The beautifully arranged dishes may at first glance appear to be French, but the base of their flavor is Japanese.
For example, the soup in the photo below, which looks like a rich potage, is a combination of kelp, beans, and sweet Chinese cabbage preserved in a snow room. It may seem lightly seasoned to some people, but it is a delicious taste that gradually soaks into the body with each sip. The floating fruit is deep-fried frozen tofu and celery, and since no animal ingredients are used, it has a light aftertaste.
Other local ingredients such as snow potatoes, Miyuki trout, and Echigo-Tsumari pork are used in the dishes, of course without additives, and sauces and seasonings are also handmade as much as possible. For example, the soy sauce and miso are Isen's original products, which have been certified in the processed food category of Snow Country Class A Gourmet.
The dish concludes with porridge made from Koshihikari rice from the Shiozawa area, which is said to be especially delicious in Minamiuonuma, a nationally known rice-producing area. The course on the day in the photo is porridge, but depending on the season, white rice made from that Koshihikari and miso soup made from original miso are also available.
Desserts are made by a full-time pastry chef, and also incorporate ingredients from Uonuma, depending on the season.
The new dishes, which push "local production for local consumption" to offer Uonuma ingredients in unexpected ways, change four times a year, so you can enjoy a variety of the four seasons in the snow country.
This Italian restaurant uses vegetables unique to the snow country, such as snow chamber carrots and snow chamber cabbage. While conveniently located inside Echigo Yuzawa Station, the restaurant also uses additive-free, handmade ingredients such as pizza baked in a pizza oven and smoked Miyuki trout in the restaurant.
Worth going out of your way for! Italian café at the station
Echigo-Yuzawa Station on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line is a place for shopping and dining called "Gangi-dori. Muran Gozzo Cafe opened here in July 2012.
An Italian café in a train station might conjure up images of a place to grab a bite to eat while waiting for the bullet train, but this café is too good to be used just for that! This is a restaurant that makes you want to go all the way to the station for lunch or dinner.
Inside the open-kitchen restaurant is a pizza oven, where the pizza dough is spread out on the spot and a delicious aroma wafts through the air as it is baked with vegetables from the snow country and "sakasuke," a new specialty made from lactic acid fermented sakekasu (sake lees).
Pasta is also made with seasonal local vegetables. For example, in winter, potatoes and cabbage preserved in snow chambers make an appearance. Sometimes, they even use Miyuki trout, which is smoked in the restaurant. The chef is Mr. Kuwahara, who trained at Archeciano's, a famous restaurant in Yamagata that is nationally known for its menu that makes full use of locally produced ingredients. He plans to develop a menu that further enhances the ingredients unique to the snow country.
The set menu, which includes pizza and pasta, colorful appetizers, desserts such as tiramisu, and beverages, is generous and offers excellent value for money.
A wide selection of wines is also available, so it is recommended to take your time to enjoy your meal, even if you have to move your bullet train by one train.
By the way, parking is free for up to two hours under the elevated railway tracks of Echigo-Yuzawa Station, so even those who do not use the station can easily enjoy their meal.
Normally, the restaurant closes early in the evening at 19:30 (20:00 in winter), but for parties, etc., it is possible to stay open until 21:00 if you make a reservation in advance.
ryusushi is located at the foot of Mt. Hakkaisan in Minami-uonuma, Niigata, using more than 50% of the fish landed within Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan. Most of the rice and vegetables are also locally grown in Minami-uonuma. By combining traditional Edo-mae techniques with new ideas, you can enjoy the original "Uonuma-mae Sushi," in which local ingredients such as vegetables and wild plants play the leading role.
The one and only nigirizushi where not only fish but also local vegetables take center stage
ryusushi" was renovated in July 2021 and reborn as a counter-centered restaurant. Masayuki Sato, owner of ryusushi, which has become a popular restaurant that attracts people not only from the Tokyo metropolitan area but also from all over Japan, says that he began to think deeply about "how to make people come all the way from far away to a sushi restaurant in the mountains and make them happy? He says that he began to think deeply about "how to make people come all the way from far away to a sushi restaurant in the mountains and make them happy.
In this day and age, distribution has developed to the point where you can find the finest seafood anywhere in the country. Even here in Minamiuonuma, it is possible to procure first-class products like those at Toyosu, although it takes a lot of time and effort. In fact, that is how we procure sea urchin, sea bream, and red clams, but we cannot compete with Tokyo's sushi restaurants and surpass them all. How can we make people think, "I want to go there," even if it takes two hours from the Tokyo metropolitan area and costs a lot of money to get there? What should we do to make people think, "I want to go there! What can we do to reverse the situation of "eating sushi in the mountains," a situation that has no appetite for sushi? After asking myself these questions over and over again, the only answer I could come up with was that Ryu Sushi had no choice but to evolve.
Until 1998, when Mr. Sato took over the restaurant, which was still in its 30s, it was a typical sushi restaurant in the town that mainly served local customers and also served banquets and delivery services.
But as a result of his research into fish from brand-name fishing ports around the country and his pursuit of the taste of vinegared rice, the balance between the sushi and the fish, and the appeal of local ingredients expressed in nigiri, the restaurant has become one of the top sushi restaurants in Niigata Prefecture, and more and more customers come all the way from faraway places.
One thing that has been very popular with our customers from afar is our nigirizushi, which features vegetables and wild plants as the main ingredients, using new cooking techniques such as low-temperature cooking and vacuum cooking, which are not available anywhere else. In spring, we use wild vegetables as condiments, fusing the aroma and bitterness of wild vegetables with seafood. And the nigiri with grilled black maitake mushrooms on top of the toro has a rich aroma that escapes through the nose. Nigiri with confit of premium shiitake mushrooms, Uonuma tenkeiko, looks like abalone and tastes like more than abalone. The eggplant nigiri looks just like conger eel, but the flavor is far superior to that of a bad conger eel. I want people to be thrilled by this totally new nigiri that fuses ingredients from the mountains and the sea."
The menu includes three courses for both lunch and dinner: 11,000 yen, 14,300 yen, and 16,500 yen. Each course offers a unique taste experience that can only be had in Minami-uonuma, Niigata, with the addition of a touch of work that can only be done in the mountains. Keep your eyes on the evolution of ryusushi.
This eatery is located at a roadside station where you can enjoy set meals using vegetables harvested in the snow country, Tsumari pork, and other local specialties. Enjoy a meal featuring a bowl full of Uonuma Koshihikari rice as the main dish, with plenty of seasonal side dishes from Uonuma to please your body.
Delicious traditional food from the snow country and "Donsoba" made from specialty rice flour
Minamiuonuma "Snow Light" Roadside Station, a 3-minute drive from the Shiozawa-Ishiuchi IC, is a popular spot that has attracted many visitors since its opening in the spring of 2012. The "Four Seasons Ajiwai Kan" is located on a large site and includes a direct sales shop for agricultural products and specialties, and "Chawan-meshi Tappo-ya" where you can enjoy slow food in a casual atmosphere.
As the name "chawan-meshi" suggests, the star of the meal is a large bowl of rice. Tappo-ya is located in the Shiozawa area, which is known as one of the best rice production areas in Japan for its Minamiuonuma Koshihikari brand rice. Therefore, the rice we use is Koshihikari harvested in this area and cooked in our restaurant on the stove. The rice can be burnt and has a slight aroma.
To accompany this hearty bowl of rice is "kirizai," a mixture of chopped nozawana and vegetables mixed with natto (fermented soybeans), and "nokpe-jiru," a soup made with many vegetables and other local dishes that have been handed down in snow country from long ago, such as chopped nozawana and vegetables stewed with cod roe (herring) brought by Kitamae ships that call at the Sea of Japan. Other side dishes include local specialties such as Echigo mochi pork, Miyuki trout, and Uonuma mushrooms.
The restaurant may look like a fast food restaurant because you order at the counter and the rest is self-service, but the amazing thing about this restaurant is that the side dishes and nokpe-jiru are made without additives, using kombu, bonito and dried sardines to make broth, and without any chemical seasonings or instant soup stock. The soup is made without additives, without chemical seasonings or instant broth. And yet the price is low, starting at 500 yen for a set of side dishes, rice, and soup. This may sound obvious, but it is quite rare.
Another popular menu item is the restaurant's original "Donsoba. The noodles are filled with Koshihikari rice flour and topped with kiriboshi-daikon (dried radish) and other side dishes. The noodles are first tasted without broth, and then soup stock is added to taste. This dashi is, of course, the natural broth used in the dish. The aroma of bonito wafts softly, and a gentle flavor spreads in your mouth.
Echigo-Matsudai Satoyama Shokudo
Visitors can experience the rich culinary culture of Echigo-Tsumari while viewing terraced rice fields in summer and stunning snowy landscapes in winter amidst the works of world-renowned artists. Some of the menus do not contain any animal products or are macrobiotic, making them perfect for those who wish to dine that way.
Lunch of the four seasons unfolds on a mirrored table
The luxury of being in the middle of a production area
Echigo Matsudai Satoyama Shokudo is located in a field museum called "Nohbutai. Nohbutai is a facility born from the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, which is held every three years in Tokamachi City and Tsunan Town, and is itself a work of art. Echigo-Matsudai Satoyama Shokudo (Echigo-Matsudai Satoyama Restaurant) is also located within this work of art, and the interior was designed by Jean-Luc Vilmut.
The interior of the restaurant is made entirely of glass, and when you open the door, you are greeted by a bright, light blue space. The ceiling is decorated with seasonal scenes from Matsudai. This is reflected on the mirrored tables, creating a unique atmosphere.
In addition, through conversations with the local mothers who work here, the restaurant aims to create the illusion of being invited into their homes.
The recommended weekday menu is "Satoyama Gohan.
As the name suggests, you can enjoy the bounty of Matsudai's satoyama, and most of the ingredients used, from rice to meat, vegetables, and processed foods, are locally produced.
For example, the rice comes from the terraced rice paddies in front of the restaurant and the Matsudai area.
Vegetables are also purchased directly from local farmers, and sometimes the staff themselves go into the mountains to pick wild vegetables.
In any case, the restaurant is characterized by the close proximity of its ingredients. Lunch with plenty of fresh vegetables from the local market will help you feel better.
We also put a lot of effort into our sweets, and we recommend the seasonal sweets that change with the seasons, such as vegetable-based sweets and baked sweets that take advantage of the bounty of the mountains. Together with a drink, you can enjoy a tea time that you can only experience here.
Keyaki-en" is a traditional Echigo-Snow Country house built in 1897 in the style of a village headman's house, where you can enjoy a meal while gazing at the tasteful garden. You can enjoy seasonal blessings unique to the area, such as locally grown wild vegetables and wild plants, char and sweetfish grilled over an open hearth, home-made Uonuma koshihikari rice, and Niigata local dish nokpe-jiru.
Rice and vegetables grown with fresh water flowing from the mountains
Dishes that will change your image of the taste of vegetables
Keyaki-en is located in snowy Minamiuonuma City at the foot of Hakkaisan Mountain. The mansion, built in 1898, is a traditional thatched-roof country house structure. Surrounded by groves of zelkova and cherry trees, the scenery is just like the Japanese hometown that city dwellers long for.
Standing in the kitchen of Zelkova Garden is the proprietress and her family. It takes an extraordinary amount of time and effort to maintain this spacious house, which covers an area of 4,000 square meters and a residence of 200 square meters. In particular, the large thatched roof, which is the signature of Zelkova Garden, must be replaced periodically at considerable cost. Therefore, in 1986, Zelki-en was opened in order to entertain people with dishes using seasonal vegetables from Uonuma and to encourage them to use the mansion. It is named after the 1,500-year-old zelkova tree in front of the building.
In spring, you can see wild vegetables and skunk cabbages, and in summer, fireflies and cicadas, which you cannot see unless you are in an environment with clean water and air. Because of this environment, we have a good selection of wild plants, vegetables, and mushrooms nearby.
At Keyaki-en, most of the rice and vegetables used for cooking are home-grown. The rice is grown in the rice paddy behind the house, and vegetables are cultivated in the vegetable garden. The vegetables are especially fresh because the proprietress picks the most delicious ones of the day from the fields and cooks them immediately. The vegetables are grown in the subsoil water of Hakkaisan (Mt. Hakkaisan), so it goes without saying that they are delicious.
The water is from the "Raiden-sama's" fresh water source. The water is called "Raiden-sama no Shimizu" (Raiden-sama's fresh water), which springs from the rock face at the foot of Mount Katsura, one of the Hakkaisan Mountains. This water also flows into the rice paddies and fields immediately behind the farm. The rice and vegetables grow well because the water is good," he says.
There are two types of courses at Keyaki-en: 5,250 yen and 7,350 yen. The menu changes with the seasons as seasonal ingredients are used.
Each dish has an elegant flavor, with the broth used to bring out the natural flavors of the vegetables. Since each ingredient is carefully prepared, you can enjoy the rich flavor of the ingredients. In particular, the way the vegetables are cooked is so outstanding that even the vegetables you are accustomed to eating in everyday life will change the way you think of their flavor.
For example, "Nanohana to Ului no Yosemono," which has a crispy texture and the bitterness of spring spreads softly, and "Aged Manju," which impresses with the sweetness of yurine cooked with a hint of sweetness, are impressive and delicious.
The dishes at Zelkova Garden make you realize that the deliciousness of vegetables is unknown. In a single dish, you will be able to see the changing seasons from winter to spring, spring to early summer, and summer to fall. By the end of the meal, you will be looking forward to the arrival of the next season.
The owner, a former buckwheat noodle chef, proposes "Uonuma Italian" based on Italian cuisine with a touch of Japanese cuisine. You can enjoy Italian cuisine that is full of ideas and flavors of the Hakkaisan base, such as spring water from the famous soft water of Mt. Hakkaisan, Tsunan pork, and traditional vegetables.
The star of the menu is Uonuma vegetables in season
Italian cuisine prepared with spring water from the foot of Mt.
When you eat at La Grassa, you realize that Italian cuisine goes well with all kinds of ingredients.
The main ingredients used at La Grassa are wild vegetables and local vegetables from Uonuma. In the hands of owner-chef Tashiro, even udo (Japanese udo), which has a peculiar taste, and Osaki-gai, which has a slight bitterness, blend easily with Italian flavors and become very tasty dishes.
If "the essence of Italian cuisine is to take pride in the ingredients of the land they come from," then La Grassa truly embodies the essence of Italian cuisine in Uonuma. The owner, Mr. Tashiro, places his trust in the ingredients of Uonuma and cooks them with pride.
That is why the menu is filled with dishes named after seasonal local vegetables and wild plants. Incidentally, the menu for May, when we went to interview him, was dominated by spring wild vegetables such as kogome, wild udo, and butterbur sprouts.
Because the restaurant places importance on seasonal delicacies, the daily menu is prepared in a flexible manner. On the day of the interview, the restaurant seemed to have received just the right amount of asparagus, so they made the "udo carbonara" with white asparagus instead of the "udo carbonara," which is usually made with mountain udo.
Incidentally, the asparagus we received came in three colors: white, green, and purple. The white asparagus is used in carbonara, the green asparagus is grilled, and the purple asparagus is used in spicy arrabbiata, creating three different tastes.
The essential supporting ingredient in these dishes is the brodo used to boil the vegetables. This is like "dashi" in Japanese cooking. It is a broth of carrots, onions, and celery leaves, flavored with bay leaves and white pepper, etc. When boiling vegetables, he uses this broth for all the water. When boiling vegetables in this broth, the flavor of the vegetables does not escape, and the food tastes better.
The water used for the broth is spring water from the foot of Mount Hakkaisan, a local mountain famous for its softness. According to Mr. Tashiro, the true flavor of the ingredients cannot be obtained unless the water is soft.
By the way, La Grassa offers a variety of pasta dishes, but the "handmade soba" has a unique presence among them. That's right. It is Japanese soba topped with chopped nori seaweed.
Mr. Tashiro was originally the eldest son of a well-known buckwheat noodle shop in the area. One day, he came across a very delicious Italian restaurant and decided to open La Grassa. Unfortunately, that restaurant is no longer there, but he went there many times and learned the taste.
He is the owner-chef of an Italian restaurant that serves delicious soba noodles. Just hearing about it already sounds delicious, doesn't it? La Grassa is a 5-6 minute walk from Urasa Station on the JR Joetsu Shinkansen Line, making it very accessible. Please go there to eat.
Ozushi
This restaurant serves "Niigata-mae" sushi, which combines rice made from Koshihikari rice produced in Minami-uonuma with fresh, fatty fish caught in the rough seas off the Sea of Japan in Niigata Prefecture. The sushi is made with ingredients that have been carefully selected without using any chemical seasonings, additive seasonings, or processed foods.
A restaurant where you can taste not only Edomae but also Niigata-mae sushi
Dai Sushi is a sushi restaurant located in the hot spring resort area of Echigo-Yuzawa Onsen, close to Echigo-Yuzawa Station on the JR Joetsu Shinkansen Line, about a five-minute walk from the west exit. The attraction of this restaurant is that you can enjoy seasonal fish caught off the coast of the Sea of Japan in Niigata Prefecture, as well as sushi that is a bit unusual, using not only fish but also local vegetables and traditional seasonings. You can enjoy Niigata-mae sushi, which is not Edo-mae, but only available at this restaurant.
As much as possible, we purchase fish caught at Sado, Izumozaki, and Iwafune fishing ports in Niigata Prefecture. All of the fish are fresh and fatty from the rough seas of the Sea of Japan. The rough seas are rich in nutrients in the sea, making the fish especially tasty. The mackerel, shrimp, and squid from the waters off Sado Island are especially delicious, and the popular nodoguro (sea urchin) is also available.
Yoshimi Uemura, the owner, says, "Since you have come all the way to Niigata, I want you to try as much delicious food from the Sea of Japan as possible. In fact, fish is not the only attraction of Niigata-mae.
A superb dish born from the owner's idea
The owner, Yoshimi Uemura, is a man of ideas who comes up with a series of unusual sushi dishes using ingredients unique to Yuzawa, such as traditional local vegetables and wild plants. For example, he combines myoga, which is harvested in abundance in the mountains during the summer, with toro to create "myoga maki," a sushi roll that uses local ingredients in a rather unusual way.
He also excels at discovering the charm of previously unknown ingredients, transforming them into deliciousness and serving them in a superb dish. One of his masterpieces is the "Karaisuke Maki. Karaisuke" is a traditional seasoning made by kneading "Kagura Nanban," a traditional local vegetable, with miso, and is characterized by its moderate spiciness and aroma. Dai Sushi's "Karaisuke roll" is a roll of Karaisuke, Takuan and cucumber together. It is a dish that can be enjoyed only at this restaurant, where you can enjoy the moderate spiciness and aroma of the karaisuke.
In fact, one of the founders of this "Karaisuke Miso" is Mr. Uemura. To be precise, Mr. Uemura, who runs a sushi restaurant, the owner of a ryokan in Yuzawa Onsen, and the owner of a soba noodle restaurant were the founders of this product, which was commercialized in cooperation with a local farmer. It is now an indispensable souvenir of Yuzawa Onsen and is served at many ryokan meals.
In addition, green tomatoes that have not fully ripened after the summer are pickled in beer and used as a garnish, bringing out new charms in the ingredients that are still unknown.
Using good water and salt
The secret to the delicious taste of Dai Sushi lies in its attention to water and salt. Several types of rock salt are always available at the counter, and Dai Sushi uses different types depending on the fish and cuisine.
For example, Nodoguro, a typical Niigata white fish, is seared on the skin and served with gold rock salt. Squid is served with pink rock salt and lemon juice, or cut into threads and served "nestled" with quail eggs and ginger on top. This is due to the high quality fat and sweetness of the fish from the Sea of Japan.
We use mineral water, which is good for your health. Tap water contains chlorine and caustic soda for disinfection, which are not good for your health and not only suppress the taste of the ingredients, but also destroy the nutrients. Therefore, at Dai Sushi, we use mineral water from which chlorine and caustic soda have been removed. Using good water brings out the natural flavor of the ingredients, so there is no need for chemical seasonings," says Uemura.
No Pesticides, No Additives
By the way, Mr. Uemura, the owner of the restaurant, says that he can usually tell what kind of fish the fish has eaten and what kind of fertilizers the vegetables have been grown with from the smell and taste. This is not only because he is a sushi chef sensitive to freshness and smells, but also because his body reacts to them. For example, vegetables grown with pesticides and chemical fertilizers not only make you smell them, but also make you sick when you eat them. When you eat French food, your body also reacts to the pesticides and chemical fertilizers used on the vegetables in the sauce. For the same reason, we do not use any foods with chemical seasonings or additives.
That is why most of the vegetables used in the restaurant, such as cucumbers, green onions, radishes, and perilla leaves, are homegrown by Mr. Uemura. He grows them without using pesticides, and for insect control, he uses a liquid mixture of vinegar, garlic, and other natural ingredients.
The most important thing is that our customers enjoy safe and delicious food. To achieve this, we examine everything from water, salt, rice, fish, and vegetables," says Uemura. This is truly a sushi restaurant where you can enjoy "safe, secure, and authentic taste.
More than half of the buckwheat flour that is stone ground in the restaurant is produced in the prefecture, and some is home-grown. All the staff members go to the mountains to gather a year's supply of wild vegetables in the spring, which are then preserved. You can also encounter other foods unique to Uonuma, such as homemade kinshin (herring) and Miyuki trout.
In a corner of the soba restaurant "Shinbashi" in the hot spring resort area of Echigo-Yuzawa, there is a glass-walled space for making soba noodles, and freshly made soba noodles are prepared here every day. Behind the space is a millstone where the flour is slowly ground.
In the past, they used to use mostly buckwheat flour from Hokkaido and other regions, but in the past few years they have increased the percentage of Uonuma buckwheat flour, believing that "local flour is better suited to the local water. In addition, some of the products are grown in their own fields, which they manage themselves. There are not many buckwheat noodle shops in Niigata Prefecture that mill their own locally produced flour, other than those certified as Snow Country Class A Gourmet.
The signature menu item is "hegisoba," which is characteristic of Snow Country. It consists of several servings of soba noodles divided into small portions in a bowl called a hegi. Nunonori seaweed is used as a connecting agent, and the texture is characterized by its plumpness. Shinbashi's soba is basically nihachi soba, made of 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour, with a small amount of nuno-nori added as a binder.
Also a little different is the "karaisuke seiro," made with the seasoning "karaisuke," which is a certified Snow Country Class A gourmet processed food. The seasoning, which means "spicy (be careful)" in the local language, is a combination of kagura nanban, a spicy traditional vegetable that resembles a green pepper in shape, and miso. It is mixed with the desired amount of soba-tsuyu (soba sauce) and eaten with soba, and its refreshing spiciness is addictive.
With the concept of "handmade in snow country," the side dishes are also well prepared.
Take, for example, the "Broiled Chopped Nishin". As a marine product that is carried far inland from the sea to be eaten, kimmekishin is a local delicacy that has been enjoyed in Uonuma for centuries. It is boiled in water for three days in the restaurant and cooked, making it tender right down to the bones.
Niminna" is a local dish called "niina. It is made by stewing pickled nozawana with various other ingredients, depending on the household.
In spring, all the store staff go out early in the morning to pick wild vegetables and preserve them in salt for the whole year.
The restaurant also offers other seasonal vegetables as well as river fish, and is open from morning to night without a break, which is helpful when you want to eat at half past your bedtime.
Local natural ingredients, such as picked grasses, wild vegetables, and fresh morning vegetables that the locals sell directly at the market, are at the heart of the cuisine. Seasonings such as miso and soy sauce are also locally produced to provide meals that are pleasing to the body.
Located just after entering the Yunotani Silver Line, a road leading to Ginzan-daira in Okutadami, this restaurant is closed in winter because of the more than two-meter snowfall in the surrounding area.
In spring, however, Irori Jisen offers dishes that can only be enjoyed in this area of deep snow.
For example, as an appetizer for a course, seasonal flowers and picked herbs are served in a jelly mound. The pickles salad and tempura, which are filled with seasonal wild vegetables and wild plants, are also popular, and many of these ingredients are from the local mountains.
The snowy mountains of Uonuma are a treasure trove of wild vegetables in the spring and mushrooms in the fall. I began to go into the mountains to gather these things myself.
It was in 2004 that the restaurant opened as a diner where anyone could enjoy these bounties from the mountains.
The menu includes a set meal featuring sashimi of local rainbow trout, soba noodles and udon noodles with plenty of home-grown vegetables, as well as set meals using seasonal ingredients such as wild vegetables in spring and akebi and mushrooms in fall. The tea served during the meal is also wild herb tea such as dokudami.
Since the restaurant opened, dashi (soup stock) has been made from ingredients every day, but the seasonings were reviewed after the restaurant was entered in the Snow Country Class A Gourmet competition. They began to actively use locally produced miso and other ingredients, and switched to local, additive-free soy sauce. Most of the seasonings are additive-free and locally produced, and you will be able to feel more of the original powerful flavors of wild vegetables and picked herbs.
The cafe is popular for its daily plates centered around enzyme brown rice using locally grown, pesticide-free brown rice. It serves dishes using freshly harvested vegetables directly from local farmers, handmade miso and pickles, and eggs from chickens raised at home.
Sumika Living is currently no longer operating as a café, and is only open by reservation and selling boxed lunches.
A three-minute walk from Mizukami Station, down the stairs from the parking lot, you will find Sumika Living, a café converted from a private house built along the river.
Upon entering the front door of the converted private house, visitors will find an array of pesticide-free vegetables and flat eggs grown by a nearby farmer.
Open only from Friday to Monday, the restaurant offers a small menu consisting mainly of "enzyme brown rice plate," "homemade bread plate," and "root vegetable curry," but the restaurant's signature dish is the "enzyme brown rice.
Enzyme brown rice is made by cooking brown rice and azuki beans together and keeping them at room temperature for two to three days to mature, and is also called "nakase-genmai. Immediately after cooking, it is just rice cooked with azuki beans, but during the aging period, it becomes surprisingly sticky and its flavor improves. Moreover, it is said to increase nutrients such as gaba, and for a while it became a topic of conversation as many celebrities were eating it.
The "Enzyme Brown Rice Platter" is a set that includes two large rice balls, a side dish that changes daily, and miso soup.
The star of the show is the enzyme brown rice, which is Koshihikari grown by a local farmer, and the side dishes on the plate are also vegetables grown by a local farmer. The standard omelet is made with eggs from chickens raised at home and eggs from hens raised by vegetable farmers in a flat-raised system.
Vinegared saury is also a standard side dish, but other than this saury, fish and meat are rarely used on the menu.
Dried plums, salted shiso seeds, and pickled rakkyo are also homemade. Miso (fermented soybean paste) is also homemade, using soybeans from the town and Fujioka City, and Mr. Numata's rice and barley malt.
Sumika living is a café in the family home of the owner of "Sumika," an architectural studio. The owner's house is made of natural materials, actively using local timber, old timber, and clay walls in its construction.
They propose a lifestyle for a long and healthy life, saying, "Taking care of what you eat is the same as taking care of what you live in.
Please enjoy the food that makes your body happy in the cozy space where many people unintentionally stay longer, such as the riverside terrace in summer or the restaurant with a warm wood stove in winter.
An inn in front of Echigo-Yuzawa Station where you can eat snow country gastronomy that brings out the best of each Uonuma ingredient and stay in rooms for different purposes. There are a total of 16 rooms, including "Utatano-Ma" with reclining chairs and "Shusai-No-Ma" with a small study space. In the café space, you can enjoy coffee brewed with hot spring water and "anbo," a local dish of snow country.
Because we put our trust in our ingredients, we do as little as possible
HATAGO Isen is a long-established inn located right in front of the west exit of Echigo-Yuzawa Station. The shortest bullet train ride from Tokyo to Echigo-Yuzawa takes about 70 minutes. It is an ideal location to take the Shinkansen directly after work and spend a relaxing holiday.
The charm of this inn lies in its comfortable rooms, which have been created according to different themes, such as the "study room" and the "snooze room," as well as its creative cuisine, which is beautiful to the eye and uses plenty of ingredients from Uonuma. Meals are served in the dining room "Murangotsuo (Mura no Gochiso).
The dishes are creative creations prepared with a unique arrangement of Uonuma vegetables and traditional foods. The dishes look as glamorous as French cuisine, but are based on Japanese cuisine. It goes well with sake and wine. The basic soup stock is katsuo (bonito) and kombu (kelp). Most of the ingredients are locally grown, such as Koshihikari rice from Minamiuonuma, snow potatoes, Niigata Wagyu beef, Miyuki trout, and Uonuma wasabi.
Uonuma produces good rice, and its vegetables are also delicious. The ingredients themselves are very powerful, so I try to cook them in a way that brings out the best of their flavor without adding too much.
That is why the seasoning is very light. You won't find dishes simmered in rich soy sauce or salads with thick dressings. Seasonings and dressings are all handmade to suit the ingredients.
For example, the "Niigata Wagyu Aburi Nigiri" is served with "Miso Cheese," a combination of HATAGO Isen's original miso and cheese, as a condiment. When you eat this on top of the moist roasted beef, the flavor of the meat will spread out and you will enjoy the rich flavor of the Wagyu beef. The second bite may be a bit more refreshing, but you can also enjoy the refreshing taste of chopped shiso leaves, grated dyed daikon radish, and Sasagawa-nagare seaweed salt as condiments.
The Uonuma Salmon Parfait is made with Miyuki salmon grown in the clear waters of Uonuma, layered with myoga, cucumber, and kakinomoto (purple edible chrysanthemum, a specialty of Niigata). The myoga and cucumber soften the firm texture of the salmon and refresh the rich flavor.
HATAGO Isen is particular about the ingredients it purchases. The rice is Koshihikari rice produced by Miyata Farms in the Shiozawa area, which is said to be one of the most delicious rice produced in Minamiuonuma. Koshihikari rice from Shiozawa has both flavor and aroma, and is characterized by its plumpness and firmness. It is served with miso soup made with HATAGO Isen's original miso.
After the meal, you may go back to your room to relax or read a book, soaking in the pleasant feeling of satisfaction. HATAGO Isen is the kind of inn where you can turn a short holiday between jobs into a fulfilling and relaxing time.
This hot spring inn is located in "Minakami Onsenkyo" with its magnificent mountains and water source scenery. The inn is proud of its mountain cuisine that uses ingredients from the mountains of Okutone and the Tone River, as well as seasonal crops grown in the nearby rice paddies. You can feel the bounty of the robust land that only Minakami can offer.
The theme of Shobun's cuisine, which focuses on local ingredients from Gunma and other regions of Jyoshu, is "mountain people cuisine" that feeds on the earth of Minakami. Not only Gunma's famous brand meat, but also familiar vegetables and mushrooms are served with different sizes, thicknesses, chewiness, and rich flavors, allowing you to feel the power of nature's nurturing.
Shobun's "Yamabito Ryori" is based on the traditional cooking of the local area, but also on the concept of using the power of the ingredients themselves, without being bound by any boundaries.
Vegetables grown with great care by farmers who insist on the highest quality are prepared with a base of adding and subtracting flavors that bring out the best while retaining as much of their color and shape as possible. You can feel the freshness of Minakami vegetables.
Fish raised in the clear waters of the Tone River are sprinkled with salt and grilled over charcoal with the perfect amount of heat. Meat, for which Gunma is famous, is not only grilled as is, but also thoroughly cured and processed according to its quality.
Among the local ingredients that have been carefully selected one by one, the most popular item is the rice served at dinner. Rice produced by Mr. Yoshimitsu Honda, a rice master from Minakami Town who continues to win "superb" ratings in national rice competitions, is cooked and served with delicious natural water pumped up from Tanigawa-dake Mountain. The rice, which is produced by using rice husk smoked charcoal to prepare the soil in the rice paddies, always has a high taste value and a fresh flavor with vigor and resilience from the roots up.
All of the seasonings are also handmade. The miso is homemade from 100% Minakami-produced soybeans, and is carefully and slowly aged in wooden vats for one year to give it a strong flavor that clearly reveals the true flavor of the beans.
We also recommend the Yamato Cuisine plus Irori Cuisine course. Here, you can enjoy the savory and delicious flavor of meat, vegetables, large shiitake mushrooms, thick fried tofu, and other powerful ingredients roasted over a charcoal fire.
We want to fill up on a feast unique to the countryside! We recommend this restaurant for those who are so inclined.
At the long-established inn where Nobel Prize-winning author Kawabata Yasunari wrote "Snow Country," you can enjoy kaiseki cuisine prepared with ingredients from Uonuma using traditional snow country cooking methods. The inn is the home of Echigo-Yuzawa's only "Tamago-no-Yu" (hot spring water with eggs), and its 100% free-flowing hot spring water, which is said to have a "miraculous 43°C" temperature, is also an enjoyable feature of the inn.
In 2010, the year the Snow Country A-Gourmet program was launched, Takahan entered the competition, but it had been less than a year since a new chef arrived.
The inn is also known as the inn where the great writer Kawabata Yasunari wrote his novel "Yukiguni," and its previous cuisine was "typical" ryokan cuisine for group tourists, including crab and tuna. In 2010, the cuisine was still undergoing major changes, but unfortunately, the ryokan was not yet certified that year and was put on hold for "soon to be certified" status. The first thing the head chef did was to make some changes.
The first thing the chef changed was the dashi. He began by carefully preparing a broth using local water, first-grade kelp from Hokkaido, and dried bonito flakes from Makurazaki. After that, he changed the seasonings one after another to additive-free authentic ingredients. They began using soy sauce and mirin produced in the prefecture, and recently they have also changed the sake they use for cooking, adding tuna flakes to the broth for some dishes. A detailed description of these seasonings and dashi is placed at the end of the dining table, and all are open to the public.
Vegetables, fish, meat, and other ingredients are mainly from the snow country. For spring wild vegetables, the chef and other kitchen staff pick them themselves.
At first glance, the pictures of the dishes may look like "banquet food at a hot spring ryokan. This is because only the dishes have not changed. However, if you look at the ingredients used, you will see that they are locally produced. Of course, the taste is also outstanding, and the transformation is astonishing to those who knew the food more than two years ago.
Moreover, Takahan is the only hot spring in Echigo-Yuzawa that has its own hot spring water "Tamago no Yu". The water is free-flowing hot-spring water with no addition of water or heating. Although the reinforced concrete building is a little old, the hot water and cuisine are excellent, and with prices starting in the low 10,000s yen, the cost performance is outstanding.
The inn offers authentic kaiseki cuisine, using only the highest quality, additive-free products, both seasonings and processed foods. The inn, which requires a quiet private space, has an abundance of hot water from its own hot spring, and you can enjoy the luxury of 100% free-flowing hot-spring water in both the large baths and the open-air baths with guest rooms.
The key is the highest quality ingredients
The chef at Senjuan changed in the spring of 2021. We use mainly ingredients from the Hokage and Nakage regions of Gunma Prefecture, with occasional use of traditional vegetables from other regions, to provide dishes that are pleasing to the eye while making the most of the ingredients.
We are always serious in our selection of ingredients. We do not compromise in our dealings with suppliers, and the majority of our ingredients are locally grown.
The vegetables used daily are ordered from the wholesaler, who is aware of the concept of "value over price" and inquires about the status of local producers.
For example, the fish is Ginkhikari, which is recommended by the Gunma Prefectural Fisheries Experiment Station and grown in the high-quality water of the Tone River system, taking advantage of its location surrounded by mountains, as well as rockfish and carp. For the sashimi, we follow the guidelines of "Relais & Châteaux" and sustainable seafood, choosing river fish instead of sea food as much as possible.
In spring, you will find plenty of wild vegetables that take advantage of the environment, sweetfish in summer, and mushrooms in autumn.
Gunma Prefecture is also a meat producing prefecture, with Jyoshu beef, Jyoshu Wagyu beef, Jyoshu barley pork, and Akagi Jidori chicken.
For dashi ingredients, we select the highest quality domestic kelp, bonito, and tuna, and use different dashi for different dishes, such as using No.1 dashi for soups and bowls, and using maguro-bushi when you want to make the most of the ingredients.
Because we pay such close attention to quality, there is no reason for the dashi not to be delicious. The highest-quality dashi brings out the natural flavors of the ingredients, and the clear taste enhanced by the honest dashi made from the ingredients is a delight to the palate.
We choose the highest quality ingredients for our dashi. We carefully select seasonings made by trusted manufacturers using traditional methods. Of course, they are additive-free. Basically, we do not use seasonings or processed foods that contain additives. Our job is to convey the original flavors of our ingredients to our customers, not to dress them up. However, times change rapidly, and while we must of course maintain the traditions and techniques of Japanese cuisine, our eternal challenge is how to meet the needs of modern cuisine and how to make local ingredients shine. I hope you will enjoy our new cuisine, which is the result of the encounter between our chefs and local ingredients.
The menu begins with an appetizer that highlights seasonal ingredients, followed by sashimi, a covered dish, a grilled dish, a meat dish, and rice. The main dish is a female Masuda beef, raised with great care for 36 months in Minogo Town, Gunma Prefecture. The meat is selected from a pedigree and fed with a high quality proprietary blend of feed that the owner is very particular about, resulting in a smooth, light fat with a very low melting point and a good amount of sashi.
Prices at Senjuan start at 45,580 yen per night. There are a total of 18 guest rooms. Considering the small number of rooms, it is perhaps not surprising that they offer a selection of the highest quality. For those who want to get away from everyday life and enjoy a feast in a beautiful country inn, this is the ryokan for you. Some guests stay at the ryokan for long periods of time each year, saying that it is more comfortable than having a vacation home.
Tomoya's cuisine focuses on local ingredients such as wild vegetables, natural mushrooms, and Uonuma brand "Miyuki trout," and is seasoned to bring out the best flavors of the ingredients. To accompany your meal, try the rare local sake or homemade fruit wine made from locally grown fruit. Each guest room has a different theme, and each is furnished with a unique interior design.
Niigata Prefecture Oyu Onsen. Frankly speaking, it is a dull hot spring resort. Inns built of reinforced concrete stand side by side along the river, and the air is somewhat lonely.
In fact, it is about an hour's drive from the Jiyujin editorial office, but until someone recommended it to me, I had never heard of it, or rather, had no interest in it. It is a rather large reinforced concrete inn. I had assumed that the food would be "boring ryokan cuisine. However, I heard a rumor from someone that the food was very good, and when I stayed there, the rumor was true.
The cuisine is creative, using local ingredients from Uonuma. You can enjoy a variety of seasonal foods from Uonuma, such as wild vegetables, local vegetables, and natural mushrooms. One of the most impressive dishes was the "maitake mushroom hot pot. The only ingredient used in this dish was maitake mushrooms. Large, meaty maitake mushrooms are served whole in the pot. It is a luxury to be able to simply taste fresh maitake mushrooms. You can enjoy the aroma and firm texture of the maitake mushrooms. The quality of the ingredients and the boldness of the dish are only possible at the place of origin.
Other dishes include a salad of freshly picked wild vegetables and plump roasted salmon, a specialty of Niigata Prefecture, and a series of other dishes that allow you to enjoy the deliciousness of local ingredients without adding any unnecessary touches.
The dishes are not like typical ryokan cuisine, where one might ask, "Why this ingredient, in this place? You will not find any unnatural ingredients like "Why this ingredient, in this place? You can enjoy very natural cooking, using only what is available. The owner's mother and her three sisters are the only people who work at the kitchen. Seasonings are carefully selected from all over Japan, and the dashi (soup stock) is as good as that used at a restaurant. Processed foods are also chosen for their additive-free qualities. There is no reason for the food to be bad. The Jiyujin editorial staff can confidently recommend this delicious inn. Please give it a try.
The inn offers cuisine that focuses on homemade rice and vegetables, as well as wild vegetables and mushrooms from Matsunoyama. It is also important to note that the inn actively uses local traditional vegetables and seasonings. Please enjoy the "Satoyama Kaiseki" that incorporates the bounty of the mountains in abundance.
The cuisine at Chitose is satoyama kaiseki (mountain cuisine), which uses a rich variety of Matsunoyama's mountain bounty, such as wild vegetables and mushrooms. Local dishes that make use of preserved foods and traditional methods from the snow country appear at various places in the kaiseki. Among them, "Touji Pork" cooked using hot spring heat, "Koikoku" which is popular even among those who do not like carp, and "Sankai-ni" which has been passed down in Matsunoyama from generation to generation are traditional tastes you must try when you come to Chitose. These dishes are a direct response to the traveler's desire to enjoy local food in a local way.
Touji Pork" is a dish of Niigata's brand-name pork, Tsumari Pork, cooked using the heat from the hot spring source. 3 hours of bathing at a low temperature of 68°C brings out the sweetness and flavor of the pork and makes it tender enough to be easily cut with chopsticks. Koikoku" is a traditional taste of Chitose. Carp has long been a valuable source of protein in mountainous areas where there is a lot of snow. Yamashimizu Koi Umani is made from carp that have been purified in mountain spring water for a month and then simmered in Chitose's traditional flavor. The fresh mountain water cleanses the carp of its muddy smell, giving it a clean, clear flavor.
Sankai-ni" is a local dish that has been passed down from generation to generation in Matsunoyama. Chopped herring, a valuable preserved food in winter, is simmered in soy sauce with wild vegetables, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. The slightly peculiar flavor of the kipper soaks into the wild vegetables, resulting in a very good taste. It is a simmered dish that goes well with sake.
Matsunoyama Onsen's specialty "Tanada Nabe" (terraced rice field hot pot)
By the way, Matsunoyama, which has no flat terrain, is famous for its beautiful terraced rice paddies, which attract many photographers from all over the country, seeking the best view. The green carpet of terraced rice paddies in summer is beautiful, but the beauty of terraced rice paddies in winter is exceptional. On the day of the first snowfall, the terraced rice paddies with fluffy snowflakes piled up gently and tastefully.
This scenery is used as a nabe in Matsunoyama Onsen's famous "Tanada Nabe," which appears in the middle of the dinner. This nabe is based on a heavy broth of Koshihikari rice, and is filled with vegetables from Matsunoyama in a heavy broth, topped with grated daikon (Japanese radish), which is used to resemble snow. Koshihikari rice is of course Matsunoyama's terraced rice. Tanada nabe" is a Matsunoyama Onsen specialty, and can be enjoyed at most ryokan in the hot spring resort area during the cold season, but each ryokan has its own original recipe, except for the use of Koshihikari rice in the soup.
Chitose's original tanada nabe is made with winter vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, carrot, brick, and shimeji mushrooms, Tsumari pork, and Koshihikari rice roasted in a soup with bonito broth, and finally grated radish. The Koshihikari rice is the key to the flavor of the soup. The soup has a mild, thick flavor, so the Koshihikari rice balls give the soup a more robust taste and make it much tastier. Another must-try is the "salt baby" of Kagura Nanban, which has been passed down from generation to generation at Chitose. Kagura nanban is a traditional summer vegetable grown mainly in the Chuetsu region of Niigata Prefecture, shaped like a green pepper and characterized by its tangy and spicy flavor. Shionoko" is a spicy fermented seasoning made by chopping kagura nanban into small pieces and marinating them with only salt and malted rice. In Matsunoyama-go (the name for the Matsudai-Matsunoyama area), farmers have their own unique tastes, and some families still have "my family's taste" that has been handed down from generation to generation. It is a seasoning that is a staple of summer.
Now, this Kagura-nanban "salt baby" is delicious when served over freshly cooked Koshihikari rice. After the tanada nabe, Matsunoyama Township's tanada koshihikari will be served, so be sure to try it.
In spring, there are wild vegetables, in summer, traditional vegetables, in fall, new Koshihikari rice, and in winter, tanada nabe. At Chitose, you can enjoy satoyama cuisine that you can only have when you come to Matsunoyama. If you are looking for a comfortable stay in a ryokan with a good hot spring and local cuisine, I highly recommend this inn.
The rice, which brings out the full flavor of Koshihikari rice from planting to cooking, is handmade by father and son.
The pesticide-free vegetables from the family's own farm are grown by the mother every day with great love and care.
The meals, which are unique to this area, are made with the blessings of the mountains and fields of Uonuma, and will revitalize your body and soul.
In the old days, guesthouses offered many local delicacies at inexpensive prices. But nowadays, due to the fierce competition among skiing guesthouses, most of the guesthouses unfortunately offer cheap ready-made and semi-processed meals. However, many people must be wondering if there is a "dream super guest house" somewhere out there.
That is exactly what "Wafuin Koshiji" is. Originally a "minshuku with delicious meals" that grew its own vegetables and rice and made its own pickles, six years ago Mikio, the son of a trainee at "Echigo-Yuzawa HATAGO Isen," a three-star Snow Country A-Gourmet restaurant, came back and joined the kitchen to further enhance the quality of the food.
In addition, when he joined Snow Country A-Gourmet, all seasonings were reviewed and some seasonings that contained additives were immediately changed. The taste of homemade vegetables now stands out and has been upgraded to that of a "restaurant" that is more than a guest house.
From spring to fall, 90% of the vegetables are home-grown. Even in winter, about 60% of the vegetables are home-grown, as we use leeks and Chinese cabbage stored in four different temperature-controlled warehouses and snow rooms.
Using these vegetables to make pickles is the responsibility of the mother, Junko. Home-made pickles are served at the table throughout the year.
All rice is also homegrown. The rice is grown in Shiozawa, which has a reputation for producing particularly delicious rice among the well-known Minamiuonuma Koshihikari rice brand, and the rice is glutinous and delicious. Of course, in spring, you can enjoy a variety of local wild vegetable dishes.
Furthermore, in addition to seasonings, the broth was also reviewed, and after a family meeting in which several were tried, the ingredients for the broth were changed. The vegetables' flavors are now enhanced even more.
Although there is no hot spring, the building was newly constructed in 1995, so the guest rooms and bathrooms are clean and comfortable. The price of 8,100 yen per night for two meals is truly a dream come true.
In fact, the taste of the food is second-rate, but since it is a guest house, I am giving it a one-star rating because I don't want people to have excessive expectations of the food. Please stay and check it out.
Note. During the summer vacation, the inn is open for training camps, so it may not be possible to make a reservation depending on the number of camps. Also, the food served at such camps is different from the standard for Class A Gourmet.
The specialty is hegi soba (buckwheat noodles), which is handmade every morning in the store using stone-ground buckwheat flour and cooked with spring water from the mountains behind the store. The restaurant offers a variety of soups, such as kamojiru (dried bonito soup) and maitake mushroom soup, which can also be ordered separately.
A long-established soba restaurant in Minakami, counting 250 years since its establishment in Niigata
Tanigawa-dake, about 10 minutes by car from Minakami Station in Gunma Prefecture. The specialty of Soba Restaurant Kakunoya, popular among tourists, is "Hegi-Soba" (buckwheat noodle).
Some of you who are familiar with soba may be wondering, "Hmm? Some of you who are familiar with soba may be wondering, "What?
Hegi-Soba is a Niigata specialty, served on a board called a "hegi," which is a plate with enough noodles for several people. But Minakami Town, where Kakumiya is located, is in Gunma Prefecture.
In fact, Kakumiya was originally located in Nagaoka City in Niigata Prefecture (adjacent to Uonuma City and Tokamachi City in the Snow Country tourism area).
A book of historical photos of Nagaoka shows a photo of the storefront in 1914 as a long-established store "founded in the Meiwa period (1764-1771) of the Edo era. Unfortunately, the store was destroyed by fire in the air raid that hit Nagaoka in 1945, and it was then that the store was relocated to Mizukami.
The current store was further relocated in 1989, so the building looks relatively new, but it is actually a long-established soba restaurant that has been in business for more than 250 years.
Long-awaited soba noodles made from locally produced buckwheat flour are also available in the summer.
In recent years, most hegisoba is made using nunonori as a binder, but it was not so long ago that nunonori began to be used for hegisoba, which originally refers to soba served on a hegi. Kakunoya's soba is nihachi soba, which is made with wheat as the binder instead of nunonori.
The buckwheat flour is stone ground from Hokkaido. But actually, for several years now, soba noodles have been grown in the local Akagi Plateau in Gunma, and they finally have enough to ship, so they use locally grown soba flour during the season when this Akagi Plateau produce can be harvested.
The quality of the buckwheat flour is now quite good, and since the buckwheat grown in Akagi is summer buckwheat, we are able to use it during the season when the aroma of the Hokkaido buckwheat flour is diminished," says owner Kazuhiko Watanabe.
Mr. Watanabe, who hand-rolls his soba every day from early in the morning, is very studious and has recently acquired certification as a soba connoisseur.
The water used for making soba noodles is fresh spring water from the mountain behind the restaurant. Tanigawa, and the store is also covered with a clear stream so thickly covered with wasabi (Japanese horseradish). This abundant water is also used to wash and tighten the soba noodles after boiling.
Hearty hegisoba served straight from the pot with light-colored soba sauce
There are two ways to serve Kakunoya's hegisoba. The first is the tama-zari style, which is often seen at restaurants that serve hegisoba. The first is the "tama-zari" style, which is often seen at restaurants that serve hegisoba, where each portion is rounded into several pieces for easy eating. However, this is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process.
Therefore, Kakunoya offers the option of serving the boiled soba straight from the pot. When the soba noodles are served in a "tama-mari" (bowl) style, some of the soba noodles are cut off, and the customer is not able to enjoy them. Originally, hegi soba was more than enough for one person, so the volume was quite large.
The men-tsuyu, which catches this soba, is characterized by its light color. Since the restaurant is participating in the Snow Country A-Grade Gourmet, of course no chemical seasonings are added, and the soup is made by hand in the restaurant from the broth.
In addition, you can add other dipping sauces to your order as a special order, which is a nice touch. There are four types of dipping sauces: kamo soup, maitake mushroom soup, tororo soup, and curry soup. Of these, the curry soup with tenkasu (fish cake) is the restaurant's most recommended. It is recommended for those who want a hearty meal.
The side dish of tempura is also popular for its generous portions. The vegetables are locally grown, and especially in the summer, vegetables home-grown without pesticides appear as tempura.
The restaurant is loved by locals and tourists alike as a place where families and groups can have fun together. Because it is handmade, there is a limit to the amount of food that can be served in a day, and the restaurant closes in the evening when all the food is sold out. The restaurant is also quite crowded on weekends and consecutive holidays, so please be aware that the restaurant may be full soon after opening at 11:00 a.m.
A satoyama rich in nature where various stories unfold from season to season. The shiny black beams and pillars that have withstood heavy snowfall. Furniture by the world's leading designers coexists with old private homes. Contemporary art that stirs creativity and the desire to create. And above all, the food that makes you feel the power of nature. ......
Satoyama Jucho is neither a cozy ryokan nor a hotel that competes with other hotels for service. Redefine Luxury. We believe that experience and discovery are true luxury.
After the rice planting is finished, a feast is held to pray for a good harvest and to entertain the people who helped plant the rice.
In the past, it was natural to live in harmony with nature.
Humans cannot live without water, air, and food.
We should be close to the climate and culture, and join hands with nature's bounty.
We are faithful to such basic principles of cooking.
I want to create dishes that awaken the "wildness" that humans possess.
Reducing food loss and food mileage is a matter of course for those of us who live in harmony with nature.
We would be more than happy if you could feel "something" from the food at Sanae Feast.
Located about a 5-minute walk from Echigo Yuzawa Station, Shosenkaku Kagetsu offers creative kaiseki cuisine in a pure Japanese style that makes the most of fresh vegetables and fish from Niigata, Echigo and Uonuma, including Koshihikari rice produced in Minami Uonuma, which is home-grown.
In addition, the private baths are 100% natural hot spring water, with a gentle touch that is also used as a birth water.
You will discover the charm of Echigo and Uonuma in the hospitality and space that will make you feel at home.
The hotel's catchphrase, "Natsukashiki Kokoro no Furusato" ("Natsukashiki Kokoro no Furusato" in Japanese), is the concept behind the hotel's hospitality, which is intended to be a home away from home for its guests.
Tomoko Tomii, the young proprietress, says, "We dare to greet our guests with 'Welcome home! We try not to be too formal in our hospitality so that our guests feel at home," she says.
Thanks to this, there are many regulars, including those who come to see the proprietress, and some of them have been regulars for three generations.
As she says, "I wanted to be an inn where people could celebrate their 88th birthday," some guests come from as far away as the Kanto region to celebrate their 90th and 99th birthday, and even their 90th and 99th white birthdays. Currently, white and pink chanchanko are available for these guests.
In addition to the warm hospitality and comfort of the inn, the food is a major factor in the charm of the inn, which has been popular with people of all ages.
The current head chef is Toshiro Miyazawa, a local native who has been working in the Kagetsu kitchen for the past 10 years, but only became head chef two years ago. Since then, I have tried to use mostly local ingredients," he says, "in accordance with the president's wishes.
Although the restaurant seated about two-thirds of the customers before the renovation, it still serves about 100 people at the most, so he has gradually increased the percentage of local products, although he was not able to make the change all at once.
They do not use any processed or semi-processed products, and even the dressing and sauce for their choban-yaki are handmade in the kitchen. They also use pickles made by neighbors.
In addition, about two years ago, they began switching to additive-free dashi (soup stock) and seasonings.
The head chef, Mr. Miyazawa, says, "Before that, we used soy sauce, miso, and other additives. Until then, I wasn't even aware of soy sauce or miso. But we tried various additive-free products and asked our suppliers to deliver us products that did not contain any unnecessary ingredients, and then we changed. The thing that surprised me the most was mirin (sweet sake). I had no idea that using the real thing would change the taste so much."
In fact, not only the head chef, but most of the kitchen staff are locals. They are all familiar with local ingredients and cooking methods. In addition, there are young women and cooks with Western backgrounds.
I don't just think on my own; we all think together. If I find something good, I ask them to try it. That way, they take it seriously, and there are more variations in the menu.
At Shosenkaku Kagetsu, not only the chefs, but also those who serve meals are mostly local people or people who have married into the local community.
As the young proprietress says, "Many people say they don't have a hometown these days, so I hope these people will think of us as their hometown.
Tatsumikan is located in the traveler-friendly village of Tsukiyono.
The specialties are "Kamimaki Onsen," a natural hot spring that has been warmed by the melting snow of the Tone River and gushes out after 17 years, and "Irori Domenzokuyaki," a traditional dish from the deep snow of Echigo-ji.
This is a country cuisine that means leftovers (go-susubu) presented to a noble person, and you can taste all the delicacies of the mountains and the river.
You can choose "mountain village cuisine" in a kaiseki style for your meal, but if you want to experience the best part of this inn, you should definitely try "Irori kensan-yaki," where you sit around a sunken hearth table and grill mountain and river foods right in front of you.
It is said that the word "kensan-yaki" is derived from "kensaki", which means "kensan-yaki" in Japanese, and is said to be the result of many battles between Uesugi and Takeda, during which samurai would grill fish, wild vegetables, and other items by sticking them in their swords.
Tatsumikan began serving this kind of country cooking, which is grilled over an open hearth, in the days of its predecessors.
The ingredients are, of course, locally grown. In fact, they even use charcoal made from oak trees in Katashina Village.
The charcoal fire is used to grill Akagi beef, Akagi chicken, river fish, thick shiitake mushrooms grown in Tsukiyono, seasonal vegetables, and more. The final dish is a large grilled rice ball. The rice used for the onigiri is Koshihikari rice grown by Mr. Yoshimitsu Honda in Minakami Town. The rice is flavored with a secret miso paste developed by his predecessor, and even when you think you are full, you can't stop eating it.
The restaurant is located in Gunma Prefecture, which is far from the sea, so they do not use sea fish such as tuna except for local dinners. All of the fish used are river fish, including "Gin Hikari," the finest red trout from Gunma, sakura carp that are raised only on krill so they do not smell muddy, and "kawafugu," a blowfish raised in the clear waters of the Tone River.
Kawafugu" may not be familiar to many, but it refers to catfish. It is not peculiar but has a lot of fat, and is popular even among those who do not like river fish. Many people may think of washing carp when they think of sashimi, but the chef says that since sakura carp has no peculiar taste, it is better to eat it as sashimi.
Even those who don't like river carp say, "I didn't know there was such a way to cook it. I would like to convey that kind of surprise more to them," he says. He is currently experimenting with marinating catfish in miso to make it even tastier than the sashimi, deep-fried, and nanbanzuke (a type of fish marinated in soy sauce) he serves. I think I can make it look like saikyo-yaki," he says, "so I am looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Another reason for the inn's popularity is the hearty breakfast served in a venue with a distant view of Mt.
The menu includes a variety of dishes that take advantage of the hot springs, such as "fountainhead rice gruel" made from Mr. Honda's Koshihikari, the same rice used for dinner, cooked in the fountainhead of the Kaminaki hot spring, "fountainhead steamed rice" using local vegetables, and "boiled beef" made from Akagi beef thighs boiled in the fountainhead.
The rice porridge has a complex flavor that makes it hard to believe that it was seasoned only with kelp and salt. When I asked why they use hot spring water instead of water for boiled beef, he replied, "For example, when you boil spinach, if you just boil it, you get the 'watery' smell of boiled spinach. Soaking spinach in bonito broth overnight makes it easier to eat, but if you boil it in hot spring water, you don't get that watery smell," said the chef. Perhaps it is because the water from the Kaminomaki hot spring has a very small amount of salt and minerals, but both steaming in the spring water and boiling in the spring water taste better than cooking in fresh water. The sauce used for the boiled beef is also homemade. It is no wonder that many repeat customers come to the restaurant for its simple cuisine, which uses ingredients from Minakami, neighboring Katashina Village, Numata, and other parts of the prefecture as much as possible.