Among the many ekiben sold at JR Okayama Station, we would like to introduce Momotaro no Matsuri Zushi.
Matsumae-zushi is a celebratory sushi called “bara-zushi” in Okayama. In the Edo period (1603-1867), the lord of Bizen Province, Ikeda Nariyoshi, issued a thrift ordinance that stipulated that the common people should eat “one soup and one vegetable” for their meals. However, the common people wanted to eat luxurious food at least during festivals, so they made a sumptuous barazushi with many ingredients such as vinegared fish and boiled vegetables in sushi rice, based on the theory that if you put fish and vegetables in sushi, it becomes “one vegetable. It is said that people in Okayama enjoyed making such traditional bara-zushi. Momotaro’s Matsuri Zushi is a version of this traditional Okayama-style barazushi made into an ekiben.
Momotaro no Matsuri Zushi has a very long history, first going on sale in 1963. This year marks the 60th anniversary of its sale, making it a long-selling ekiben. It is still the most popular ekiben sold at Okayama Station, making it a perfect representative of Okayama Station.
The main feature of Momotaro no Matsuri Zushi is the very cute pink, peach-shaped bento box. The author is from Kagawa Prefecture, and when he was a small child, he often visited Okayama, where his relatives lived, and often had this ekiben in his hands. Since then, I still have the impression that the peach-shaped bento box was used, and this time I felt very nostalgic after having it for the first time in a long time. Incidentally, this lunch box is made of plastic, so it can be taken home and reused. This may be another reason for its popularity.
When you open the lid of the bento box, you will see a vibrant festival dish. A broiled egg is laid on a bed of vinegared rice, and 12 different ingredients are arranged in a tight row: vinegared Spanish mackerel, vinegared mamakari, simmered shrimp, grilled conger eel, vinegared octopus, simmered scallion, simmered shiitake mushroom, grilled bamboo shoot, pickled lotus root, pickled green vegetable, red ginger, and oboro (a small piece of fish).
Among them, Spanish mackerel and mamakari, which are popular in Okayama, are indispensable ingredients in festival sushi. When I was a child, I was not so fond of fish marinated in vinegar, but when I eat it now, I find that the right amount of vinegar matches well with the flavors of Spanish mackerel and mamakari, and there is no fishy smell.
Other ingredients include not only the pickled vegetables with a strong vinegar flavor, but also a variety of other flavors such as grilled conger eel with its irresistible sweet sauce and charred aroma, and stewed shiitake mushrooms that are slowly simmered in a sweet and spicy sauce, and whose flavor seeps out as you eat them. The fact that you can enjoy the changing flavors of this sushi bara-zushi is one of the reasons it has remained so popular over the years.
In recent years, the number of glamorous-looking ekiben at Okayama Station has been increasing, so Momotaro’s Matsuri Zushi may be rather subdued. However, when I picked up Momotaro’s Matsuri Zushi for the first time in a while, I realized once again that it has maintained its popularity for many years and is loved by many people. If you have a chance to visit Okayama Station, please pick up Momotaro’s Matsuri Zushi.
© Source travel watch