Nokpe" is a typical Niigata home-style dish and a local delicacy found throughout Japan. Unlike "Nogei-jiru" found throughout the country, Niigata's "Nogpe" is more of a stew than a soup.

Where it is made

All over Niigata Prefecture

Main ingredients

scallops, dried shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, taro, carrots, konnyaku, fish paste, ginkgo nuts, salted salmon

Igoneri" is a local dish representative of Sado Island, made from the Japanese rush grass harvested from the Sea of Japan. It was made in every household from fall to winter.

Where it is made

All over Niigata Prefecture

Main ingredients

Igogusa

Shoyu Okowa" is a local dish of Nagaoka City that is colored with soy sauce. It is a local dish characterized by the inclusion of fluffy cooked kidney beans.

Where it is made

Nagaoka City (Chuetsu Region)

Main ingredients

Glutinous rice, kidney beans, soy sauce

Sasa-dango, a well-known specialty of Niigata, is a bale-shaped dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves and tied with a string of sedge or other material.

Where it is made

Kaetsu area

Main ingredients

Dumpling flour, bamboo grass leaves, dried mugwort, red bean paste

Kiri-zai" is a local dish from the Uonuma region, made by mixing natto with chopped vegetables. The "kiri-zai" in kiri-zai means "to cut" and "zai" means "dai" in vegetable.

Where it is made

Chuetsu region

Main ingredients

Nozawana, daikon radish, natto, sesame

"Sasazushi" is a traditional local dish from the Hokushinetsu region., In Niigata Prefecture, it is mainly enjoyed in the Joetsu region.

Where it is made

Joetsu Region

Main ingredients

Rice, dried fern shoots, himetake bamboo shoots, salmon, nozawana, butterbur miso, egg, sweet vinegar-pickled ginger

One of these salmon dishes is “salmon yakizuke” . As the name suggests, it is a simple dish in which grilled salmon is marinated in soy sauce mixed with sake and mirin and served as is or broiled.

Where it is made

The northern part of Niigata Prefecture

Main ingredients

Raw salmon and soy sauce

Zenmai or flowering fern is one of them, and when harvested in early spring and hung in the sun to dry, it was an especially useful as a preserved food in the wintertime.

Where it is made

Niigata Prefecture

Main ingredients

Dried Zenmai

“Kakiae namasu” is a local dish that uses reddish-purple edible chrysanthemums.

Where it is made

All areas of Niigata Prefecture (Chuetsu and Kaetsu)

Main ingredients

Kakinomoto (edible chrysanthemum), shirataki, lotus root, cucumber, dried shiitake, walnuts

Kanzuri, a traditional fermented seasoning from Myoko City (formerly Arai City) in Niigata Prefecture, is also written in Japanese characters meaning “made in the cold” because it is made on the…

Where it is made

Joetsu region

Main ingredients

Chili pepper, rice koji, yuzu, salt

Fu is a processed food whose main ingredient is gluten and is made by kneading wheat flour with water.

Where it is made

The Kaetsu region

Main ingredients

Kurumafu, white eggplant, and green beans

Nina is a local dish made by boiling salted vegetable leaves and was eaten as a common household dish in Niigata Prefecture. Taina is mainly used.

Where it is made

The entire prefecture

Main ingredients

Taina and uchimame

In the Niigata prefecture where it snows heavily, 「pickled dried daikon radish」is a preserved food made to last throughout the winter.

Where it is made

Prefecture wide.

Main ingredients

Daikon, Carrots, Kombu, Dried squid, Herring roe

Kensan-yaki is a local dish of grilled rice balls topped with ginger miso or sweet miso. It is also called "kensashi-yaki," "kenshin-yaki," or "kensayaki."

Where it is made

All of Niigata Prefecture

Main ingredients

Rice, miso

"Sado no Nishime" is a local dish eaten on Sado City in Niigata Prefecture, where broth is made from grilled flying fish and ingredients such as vegetables, kombu(=kelp), and grilled tofu are slowly…

Where it is made

Sado City

Main ingredients

Alaska pollock, konjac(=yam cake), baked tofu, kombu(=kelp)

In Niigata Prefecture, there is a simple and rustic tasting " Sankaku Chimaki" that is rare in Japan.

Where it is made

All of Niigata Prefecture

Main ingredients

Glutinous rice, bamboo leaf, igusa (=rush), kinako (Roasted soybean flour)

"Zuiki no Suzuke," which is zuiki pickled in vinegar, is a traditional dish in Niigata Prefecture and has been enjoyed for a long time.

Where it is made

All of Niigata Prefecture

Main ingredients

Zuiki (=stalk of taro potato), Vinegar

"Tare Katsu Don" is a dish where freshly fried thin pork cutlets are placed on top of rice and drizzled with a sweet and savory soy-based sauce. It doesn't include a scrambled egg topping.

Where it is made

All of Niigata Prefecture (Kaetsu Area)

Main ingredients

Rice, Pork

“Kujira-jiru” is a local dish consisting of salted whale blubber, and vegetables, simmered in miso.

Where it is made

Chuetsu Region, Kaetsu Region

Main ingredients

Salted Whale, Eggplant, Carrot, “Yugao(＝bottle gourd)”, Green onions, Potato, Tofu, Miso

The number of sardines, caught has been decreasing in recent years, but in the past, a large number of sardines were caught in April and May along the coast of the Sea of Japan.

Where it is made

Niigata City (Kakudahama district, Nishikan Ward)

Main ingredients

Daikon radish, Sardines, Salt

“Hiyashi-shiru-Miso-jitate” (Chilled soup with Miso) is a cold soup seasoned with dashi (Japanese soup stock) and miso, and eaten mainly in summer.

Where it is made

Nagaoka City, Chuetsu Region

Main ingredients

Cucumber, Green Shiso, Miso

Niigata Prefecture, the largest consumer of eggplant in Japan, has a local dish called "Fukashi Nasu (steamed eggplant). In some areas, it is called "Nasu Bukashi.

Where it is made

All of Niigata Prefecture

Main ingredients

Eggplant

The ovaries are salted for two years or more, and then aged for a long time in Sado's sake lees to make "Fugunoko-kasuzuke."

Where it is made

Sado region

Main ingredients

Blowfish roe, salt, sake lees

Hegisoba is a type of cut buckwheat noodle made with seaweed called funori as a binder and served in a wooden tray called a hegi.

Where it is made

All of Niigata Prefecture

Main ingredients

Buckwheat flour, Funori dried seaweed

Hokkaido herring occupied a major position among the goods carried by the Kitamae-bune (northern-bound ships) because it did not last long in its raw state.

Where it is made

Kaetsu Region, Around Tsugawa, Aga City

Main ingredients

Herring, Daikon radish, Napa cabbage, Carrot, Amazake(sweet fermented rice drink)

Anbo is a kind of steamed bun with a kneaded dough and filling made of red bean paste, vegetables, etc. It is a local dish in Niigata and northern Nagano prefectures.

Where it is made

Central Region

Main ingredients

Joshinko(=glutinous rice flour), Salmon, ,Pickled greens, Red bean paste

In the mountainous regions of Niigata Prefecture, young shoots of Chishimazasa bamboo called "Hime-takenoko" are harvested from late May to early July.

Where it is made

Joetsu Region

Main ingredients

Bamboo shoots, Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, Mackerel, Eggs, Japanese Leeks, Miso

One of the local dishes of Gosen City is "imo-miso," which was made and eaten by every household when taro was harvested in the fall.

Where it is made

Shimoetsu Region

Main ingredients

Satoimo(=Japanese taro), Miso, Yuzu

Iizushi, a type of narezushi (matured sushi) that has been handed down from generation to generation in Murakami City, originated as a preserved food.

Where it is made

Murakami City

Main ingredients

Rice, Malt, Salmon, Herring roe, Cod, Lotus root, Carrot, Yuzu

In the Sanpoku district of Murakami City, located on the border with Yamagata Prefecture, slash-and-burn fields are planted in mid-August to grow red turnips.

Where it is made

Sanpoku Area of Murakami City (and some surrounding Areas)

Main ingredients

Red turnip, Salt