Ehime

3 Stars Awarded
Professional Product Section
0 Level Local Gourmet Grand Prix 2012

Ryoma Sakamoto leaveng-the-domain rice ball

This is a dish that was awarded 3 stars in the Professional Product Section of the O Level Local Gourmet Grand Prix 2012, a competition where ingredients from Ozu, Ehime prefecture is used. Otome, sister of Ryoma Sakamoto’s specialty cooking was said to be nigirimeshi (rice ball). It is said that the road from Kawabe to Nagahama in Ozu city was where Ryoma Sakamoto passed when he left the domain, and using mountain and sea food from Kawabe to Nagahama derives from this historical event.
There are two kinds of rice balls – sea bream rice balls, flavored with Tatsumi soy sauce from Kajita Shoten, a soy sauce brewery in Ozu with more than 130 years of history, and vegetable rice balls. The yam from the famous “imotaki” are strained and flavored with barley miso and placed on top. It is a flavorful dish with blessings of Ozu blended inside.