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Drink · Japan
Nihonshu
Japanese sake, a fermented beverage made from rice, koji and water. It is an official geographical indication of Japan and is served chilled, at room temperature, or warm, in small cups.
Flavors · Sendai
Gyutan
Sliced beef tongue, seasoned and grilled, served with barley rice, pickles and oxtail soup. It’s Sendai’s signature dish, created after World War II.
Traditional dish from Sendai, Miyagi
Also known as: Gyū-tan, 牛たん, 牛タン, Gyutan yaki
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Gyutan — Sendai, Japan
Gyūtan is beef tongue sliced, seasoned and grilled over charcoal. The meat is both firm and tender, offering a slight resistance when bitten. In Sendai the most common seasoning is salt, sometimes with a marinade of shoyu, sake and mirin, depending on the restaurant.
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the dish originated in Sendai in the postwar period, when cooks sought to use all parts of the cow. Gyūtan became a local specialty, and the capital of Miyagi has many restaurants dedicated to it, especially around the station.
The typical way of serving in Sendai is well known: gyūtan is presented as a set with barley-mixed rice (mugimeshi), pickles and a clear oxtail soup garnished with chopped scallions. There are also skewer versions, boiled preparations and grilled meat plates.
Gyūtan appears in specialty restaurants, izakaya and at street festivals, and boxed gyūtan meals are common at Sendai Station for travelers taking the train.
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Where it comes from
Sendai , Miyagi
Sendai’s signature dish, created in the city in the postwar period.
Ingredients
Beef tongue sliced, salt; in some restaurants, a marinade of shoyu, sake and mirin. Accompaniments: barley rice, pickles, oxtail soup.
How it is eaten
Grilled to order, served as a set with barley rice, pickles and oxtail soup. Also available as a travel bento (ekiben).
When it is eaten
All year round, at lunch or dinner.
Your questions
Questions about Gyutan
What is Sendai gyūtan?
It’s sliced beef tongue, seasoned and grilled. In Sendai it’s served as a set with barley-mixed rice, pickles and oxtail soup.
Where can you eat gyūtan in Sendai?
There are many specialty restaurants in the city, especially around Sendai Station. The dish is also found in izakaya and in boxed meals sold at the station.
Flavors of Japan
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Dish · Japan
Tempura
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Kozuyu
Aizu festive soup, made with dried scallop and dried shiitake broth, taro, carrot, mushrooms, bracken shoot, ginkgo and wheat-gluten balls (mamefu), served in the region’s lacquered bowls.
Dish · Akita
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Sweet · Dazaifu
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Tai-meshi
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Dish · Fukui
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Dish · Fukuoka
Hakata ramen
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Dish · Hiroshima
Okonomiyaki
Layered pancake cooked on the griddle: thin wheat batter, lots of cabbage, slices of pork, fried noodles and egg, with a thick sweet sauce. In Hiroshima, it’s everyday food, served in specialized restaurants and eaten with a spatula.
Dish · Hokkaido
Jingisukan
Grilled mutton or lamb on a rounded iron griddle, with vegetables that cook in the juices that run off. It’s Hokkaido’s best-known dish, eaten at home, in restaurants and on picnics.
Dish · Ise
Ise udon
Very thick, soft udon served with almost no broth, topped with a dark, thick tamari–dashi sauce and scallions. A dish from the city of Ise, served for centuries to shrine pilgrims.
Dish · Iwate
Wanko soba
Soba served in one-bite portions in small bowls, refilled by the server until you cover the bowl. A tradition from Iwate that began as a way to welcome guests.
Dish · Kagawa
Sanuki udon
Kagawa udon: firm and elastic, with a smooth surface, served hot or cold, in iriko broth or simply with soy sauce. Kagawa is called the udon kingdom, with udon shops throughout the prefecture.
Drink · Kagoshima
Satsuma shochu
Sweet-potato shochu from Kagoshima, distilled using rice koji or sweet-potato koji. Satsuma is Japan’s official geographical indication for the shochu of the prefecture, which is enjoyed with hot water, on the rocks, or with cold water.
Sweet · Kagoshima
Shirokuma
Shaved ice topped with condensed milk, colorful fruit, agar jelly cubes and azuki beans. The name, polar bear, comes from how it looks from above. A summer sweet from Kagoshima.
Dish · Kanagawa
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Bowl of rice topped with shirasu — translucent sardine fry, raw or cooked — served with soy sauce and ginger. A coastal Shonan (Kanagawa) dish made with the day’s catch from Sagami Bay.
Dish · Kanazawa
Jibuni
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Dish · Kochi
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Dish · Koya
Goma-dofu
Firm sesame cream made from ground sesame, kuzu starch and water, served in cubes with wasabi and soy sauce. A dish from the vegetarian cuisine of the monks of Koyasan, the sacred mountain of Shingon Buddhism.
Dish · Kumamoto
Karashi renkon
Lotus root with the holes filled with miso and Japanese mustard, breaded in a yellow batter and fried, served in slices. A dish from Kumamoto, traditionally linked to the Hosokawa lords.
Dish · Miyajima
Anago-meshi
Grilled conger (anago) with shoyu sauce, sliced and arranged over rice cooked in broth. A Miyajima specialty, sold since 1901 as a train-station snack at the boarding point for the island.
Dish · Miyazaki
Chikin nanban
Breaded and fried chicken, dipped in a sweet-and-sour vinegar sauce and topped with tartar sauce. A Miyazaki dish, originating in Nobeoka in the 1950s and 1960s.
Dish · Miyoshi
Iya soba
Thick, short soba made only from buckwheat from the Iya Valley, without binding wheat flour, served in hot broth with fried tofu, kamaboko, scallions and mountain greens. A dish from the Iya Valley, in Miyoshi.
Dish · Nagano
Oyaki
Dumpling made from wheat flour, sometimes mixed with buckwheat, filled with vegetables seasoned with miso or soy sauce, or with sweet bean paste; baked, steamed, or both. A dish from Nagano, from mountain villages.
Dish · Nagasaki
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Thick noodles cooked in their own rich broth, with pork, seafood, kamaboko and many vegetables sautéed in the same pan. A Nagasaki dish tied to the city’s history as an open port.
Sweet · Nagasaki
Kasutera
Rectangular castella sponge cake, moist with a yellow crumb, made of eggs, sugar, flour and starch syrup, with the top and bottom well browned. A sweet from Nagasaki that arrived with the Portuguese in the 16th century.
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Miso-nikomi udon
Firm udon, made without salt, cooked in an earthenware pot in a dark soy miso (haccho miso) broth, with chicken, fried tofu, scallion and egg. A dish from Nagoya and Aichi.
Dish · Nara
Kakinoha-zushi
Small pressed sushis of salted mackerel on seasoned rice, each wrapped in a persimmon leaf. A dish from Nara, served at the summer festivals of Gojō and Yoshino.
Drink · Okinawa
Awamori
Rice spirit from Okinawa, made with black koji and sometimes aged for years (kusu). Ryukyu is Japan’s official geographical indication for awamori from the prefecture.
Dish · Okinawa
Goya champuru
Stir-fry of goya, the bitter melão-de-são-caetano, with firm Okinawan tofu, egg and pork. It’s the best-known champuru from Okinawa, made at home and served in restaurants across the prefecture.
Dish · Okinawa
Okinawa soba
Thick wheat noodles, not buckwheat, in a pork-and-dried-bonito broth, topped with simmered pork belly, kamaboko, scallions and pickled red ginger. It’s an everyday dish in Okinawa.
Dish · Osaka
Takoyaki
Dough balls made from flour, egg and dashi with pieces of octopus, cooked on a griddle with round hollows and topped with sauce, mayonnaise, seaweed and dried bonito flakes. It’s Osaka’s best-known flavor.
Dish · Kyoto
Saba-zushi
Salted and vinegar-marinated mackerel sushi on a rice log, wrapped in bamboo sheath. A celebratory dish of Kyoto, tied to the Saba Kaido, the route that brought mackerel from the Wakasa Sea.
Dish · Shiga
Funazushi
Nigorobuna carp from Lake Biwa, salted and fermented for months with rice: an ancient form of sushi with a strong taste and aroma. A dish from Shiga, deeply rooted in the prefecture’s culture.
Dish · Shimane
Izumo soba
Dark, aromatic soba made from whole-ground buckwheat with the husk, served cold in stacks of round bowls (warigo) or hot, straight from the pot (kamaage). A dish from the Izumo region in Shimane.
Dish · Takayama
Hoba miso
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Dish · Toyama
Masuzushi
Pressed sushi of cured trout on seasoned rice, in a round wooden box lined with bamboo leaves. It’s Toyama’s most famous dish, sold in specialty shops and as a train snack.
Dish · Tokyo
Edomae-zushi
Nigiri in the Edo style, from old Tokyo: a small ball of vinegar-seasoned rice topped with cured, cooked, marinated, or raw fish. It originated as street-vendor food and spread around the world.
Dish · Tokyo
Monjayaki
A very thin batter of wheat flour and broth, with cabbage and other ingredients, cooked on a griddle at the table and eaten bit by bit with small spatulas. A Tokyo dish associated with the Tsukishima neighborhood.
Dish · Yamagata
Imoni
Taro stew with meat, konnyaku and scallion, cooked in large pots on riverbanks in autumn at Yamagata’s imonikai. Inland it includes beef and shoyu; on the Shonai coast it uses pork and miso.
Dish · Yamanashi
Hoto
Thick, wide wheat dough cooked with pumpkin, vegetables and mushrooms in a miso broth, served in an iron pot. It is the most representative dish of Yamanashi, at the foot of Mount Fuji.
Beyond the guide
