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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 · 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.
Traditional dish from Kagawa
Also known as: 讃岐うどん, Sanukiudon
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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Sanuki udon — Kagawa, Japan
Sanuki udon takes its name from Sanuki, the old name for Kagawa. The noodles are thick, firm and springy to the bite, with a smooth surface. They can be served hot in a clear iriko (dried sardine) broth, cold with a dipping sauce, or simply with a splash of soy sauce, and are topped with tempura, fried tofu, egg or scallions.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, several conditions explain udon’s strength in Kagawa: the dry, mild climate, good for wheat; the sardines for iriko, caught in the inland sea around Ibuki Island; the salt from the shallow coastal salt pans; and the soy sauce made on Shodoshima Island. A painting of the Konpira festival from the Edo period already shows udon shops.
In Kagawa, making udon by hand was customary on festive days: New Year’s, festivals and visits. In winter, shippoku udon is made, with seasonal vegetables and fried tofu simmered in iriko broth, and some people eat udon instead of soba at New Year’s Eve. The prefecture developed its own wheat variety for udon.
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, Kagawa is known as the udon kingdom. There are udon shops across the prefecture, from traditional restaurants to self-service houses where the customer chooses the size, picks the toppings and pays at the end. Many visitors travel to Kagawa to go on udon shop tours.
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Where it comes from
Kagawa
Kagawa udon, the udon kingdom.
Ingredients
Wheat flour, water and salt; iriko, kombu and soy sauce for the broth; toppings such as tempura, fried tofu, egg, scallions, ginger.
How it is eaten
Hot in broth (kake), cold with dipping sauce (zaru), with egg (kama-tama) or simply with soy sauce. In self-service houses you choose the size and toppings and pay at the end.
When it is eaten
All year; shippoku udon in winter; formerly for New Year’s, festivals and visits.
Your questions
Questions about Sanuki udon
Why is Kagawa called the udon kingdom?
Because of the number of udon shops and the tradition of Sanuki udon. The dry climate favored wheat, and the region’s salt, iriko and soy sauce completed the dish.
How does a self-service udon house in Kagawa work?
Generally, the customer orders the type and size of udon at the counter, picks the toppings they want, such as tempura, and pays at the end of the line. Each shop has its own system.
Flavors of Japan
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Dish · Japan
Ramen
Wheat noodles in a hot broth seasoned with shoyu, miso, salt, or pork bone, served with slices of pork, scallions, and bamboo shoots. It’s one of Japan’s most common dishes, with regional styles throughout the country.
Dish · Japan
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Dish · Japan
Tempura
Shrimp, fish and seasonal vegetables coated in a light batter of wheat flour, egg and cold water and fried to order. They are eaten with tentsuyu broth and grated daikon or with salt, and also served over rice as tendon.
Dish · Aizuwakamatsu
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
Kiritanpo nabe
A pot of chicken-bone broth with mashed and toasted rice sticks (kiritanpo), burdock, mushrooms, scallions and seri. A dish from Akita, made at the time of the new rice harvest.
Sweet · Dazaifu
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Thin rice‑cake filled with sweet azuki bean paste and toasted on both sides in an iron mold stamped with a plum blossom, the symbol of Dazaifu Tenmangu shrine. It’s the sweet of the shrine avenue in Dazaifu.
Dish · Ehime
Tai-meshi
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Dish · Fukui
Echizen oroshi soba
Cold soba with grated daikon radish, quite spicy, cold broth, katsuobushi and green onion. It’s the most eaten soba in Fukui, served at weddings, at the end of the year and at winter Buddhist ceremonies.
Dish · Fukuoka
Hakata ramen
Rich, milky pork-bone broth ramen with thin, straight noodles, chashu and scallions. It’s named Hakata, another name for Fukuoka, and is eaten in ramen shops and the city’s yatai stalls.
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.
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
Shirasu-don
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
Duck dusted in flour and cooked with sudare-fu (wheat gluten), vegetables and mushrooms in a slightly thickened shoyu broth, served with wasabi. A dish of Kaga cuisine, traditional in Kanazawa.
Dish · Kochi
Katsuo no tataki
Bonito quickly seared over a high flame, often using straw, browned on the outside and raw inside, cut into thick slices and served with salt or a citrus soy sauce, garlic and scallion. Dish from Kōchi.
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
Champon
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.
Dish · Nagoya
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 · 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.
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
Koji miso with scallion and mushrooms, roasted on a dry magnolia leaf (hoba) over a small tabletop brazier. A dish from the Hida-Takayama region in the mountains of Gifu.
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 · Tóquio
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 · Tóquio
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
