When I travel in Japan, one of the things I look forward to is “food. I always try to enjoy the local delicacies that are popular in the destination as much as possible. In reality, however, time is limited and I am often unable to visit local gourmet restaurants.
What can be helpful in such cases are ekiben that feature local gourmet foods. When I visited Aomori this time, I picked up the “Towada Barayaki-jyu” at Shin-Aomori Station because I wanted to enjoy local gourmet foods in the limited time I had.
Towada-barayaki is a local delicacy popular in Towada City, Aomori Prefecture, and is positioned as a B-class gourmet dish that was created in 2009 (2008) for the purpose of revitalizing the city of Towada. It was originally made by stir-frying beef ribs, which became relatively inexpensive after World War II, with a large amount of onions in a sweet and spicy soy sauce-based sauce similar to that used in Korean bulgogi.
Incidentally, Towada Barayaki has been trademarked by the Towada Barayaki Seminar, a citizen’s group in Towada City, and is carefully managed as a local B-class gourmet that enlivens Towada City. The Towada Barayaki Jyu has the certification mark of the Towada Barayaki Seminar, so you can be sure that it is a local gourmet ekiben.
Remove the lid and you are plunged into the Towada Barayaki, which is served all over the top of the rice. It looks like sukiyaki-style meat, but the needle chili peppers and white sesame sprinkled on top seem to appeal that it is not sukiyaki.
However, it was supposed to be sauteed with a large amount of onions, but I could hardly see any onions. I wondered what was wrong with this, but in fact, the onions were arranged in a tight pile under the meat and between the rice. It seems that the onions were stir-fried separately on purpose and arranged on the plate, which may have been a strategy to show off the meat more.
Incidentally, this meat is made from Aomori beef. The rice underneath is also made from Aomori rice. In this respect, it is truly a local gourmet dish.
The taste gives the impression that the sauce is moderately sweet with a relatively strong soy sauce flavor. However, when eaten with the onions under the meat, the strong sweetness of the onions adds a whole new impression. The flavor of the beef and the sweetness of the onions mixed with the soy sauce flavor makes for an exceptional taste. And this flavor goes perfectly with rice, so the momentum of your chopsticks will never stop.
Moreover, although this kind of stir-fried meat should taste better when it is warm, the meat is tender even when it is cold, as in the case of ekiben, and it is nice to know that it tastes as good as it does when it is warm.
Another thing I appreciated was the pickled yam and burdock root. The overall flavor of the dish was rich, but the acidic pickles refreshed my palate and kept me from getting bored.
It is also quite hearty in terms of quantity, so it is very satisfying. It is recommended not only for meat lovers, but also for those who want to enjoy local gourmet foods in an ekiben.
© Source travel watch