Local Foods in Oita – Part 1

Chicken tempura

• Read in Japanese: Toriten
• Original name: とり天
• Category: Chicken

Chicken is seasoned with soy sauce and garlic, and deep-fried with tempura flour. It is served with mustard and soy sauce mixed with vinegar. It is also eaten with ponzu (soy sauce with citrus juice) or tentsuyu (tempura dipping sauce).

Toritencat, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Yoshino chicken rice

• Read in Japanese: Yoshino torimeshi
• Original name: 吉野鶏めし
• Category: Chicken

Chicken and burdock are simmered with soy sauce, sugar, and sake, and mixed with rice. It is often served as onigiri. It is a popular local food that has been featured in a famous Japanese gourmet manga.

Nissy-KITAQ, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Japanese fried chicken

• Read in Japanese: Karaage
• Original name: からあげ
• Category: Chicken

Oita is the birthplace of karaage specialty stores, and there are many karaage specialty stores in Oita. Each restaurant uses its own original sauce to flavor the chicken. Since oil is continually refilled, the umami of chicken adds depth to the flavor to karaage.

Mti, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ryukyu

• Read in Japanese: Ryukyu
• Original name: りゅうきゅう
• Category: Seafood

Sashimi is marinated in soy sauce and other seasonings, and usually served on top of rice with sesame and other ingredients as Ryukyu don. It is sometimes served as chazuke (rice with green tea).

Nissy-KITAQ, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Blowfish

• Read in Japanese: Fugu
• Original name: ふぐ
• Category: Seafood

Blowfish in Oita can be eaten all year round. The blowfish, whose flesh is tightened by the strong tidal currents of the Bungo Channel, is popular for its plump texture. The meat is cooked thickly, so you can enjoy its sweetness and crunchy texture.

The following figure is the example of blowfish sashimi.

Peter Kaminski, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Yellowtail

• Read in Japanese: Kabosu buri
• Original name: かぼすブリ
• Category: Seafood

Kabosu buri from Oita is a type of yellowtail raised with kabosu produced in Oita added to its feed. It is popular for its light and refreshing taste. It has little odor and a subtle aroma of kabosu.

The following figure is the example of buri shabu.

KCyamazaki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mackerel

• Read in Japanese: Seki saba
• Original name: 関さば
• Category: Seafood

Seki saba was the first mackerel branded in Japan. The Bungo Channel is rich in feed and the tidal currents are fast, which produces fatty, firm mackerel. The umami taste is enhanced by sprinkling kabosu produced in Oita over the mackerel.

For local foods (fruits, sweets, vegetables, soup) that Japanese people want to eat when sightseeing in Oita, please see the following page.