Best Autumn Foods in Japan – How to Eat Sanma, Dobin Mushi, Tempura Soba, Shanghai Crab & Figs

Autumn is all about Pacific saury (sanma)! If possible, you’ll want to enjoy this seasonal delicacy at a restaurant. But the real question is—how do you eat it neatly? In this guide, we’ll show you how to gracefully remove the bones and enjoy even the bitter guts without a fuss. Special thanks to OOTOYA Gohan-Dokoro, which offers a limited-time fresh sanma set meal every autumn, for their kind cooperation.

Dobin mushi is a steamed dish served in a traditional Japanese earthenware pot called dobin. This classic autumn dish features seasonal ingredients such as matsutake mushroom and hamo (pike conger). This is not a common household dish, and you may be uncertain how to enjoy dobin mushi if it is served at a special occasion. With this in mind, we’ve asked the experts at Kioi Nadaman, a restaurant in the Hotel New Otani Tokyo, for advice on how to correctly enjoy this sophisticated dish.

Teuchi soba are buckwheat noodles rolled and cut by hand. Having become popular from the Edo period (early 1600s to mid 1800s), you might say this is a traditional fast food of Japan! Do you know the authentic method to appreciate the delicate flavor of soba? Here’s a test of your knowledge: ten-seiro, cold buckwheat noodles served with tempura. We’ve asked a specialty restaurant about the authentic way to enjoy this dish, and you might be surprised!

Shanghai crab is a beloved autumn delicacy in China. As a high-end ingredient that isn’t very familiar to many in Japan, there are likely quite a few people who’ve never had the chance to try it. So this time, we visited the long-established Chinese restaurant Sinsekai Saikan to learn everything—from how to dismantle a Shanghai crab to the best way to enjoy its rich flavor.

Figs are widely used in both cooking and desserts. Interestingly, some believe that the forbidden fruit eaten by Adam and Eve in the Old Testament was actually a fig. While dried figs are available year-round at supermarkets, many people may have never tried them fresh. So, we asked fruit cutting designer Sawako Nashimizu to show us a stylish way to cut fresh figs that you can easily try at home!