{"id":2590,"date":"2025-09-13T09:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T00:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/?p=2590"},"modified":"2025-09-08T10:06:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T01:06:35","slug":"kanagawa-local-foods-shumai-shirasu-navy-curry-iekei-ramen-kenchin-soup-23078","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/kanagawa-local-foods-shumai-shirasu-navy-curry-iekei-ramen-kenchin-soup-23078\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Must-Try Local Foods in Kanagawa: Shumai, Shirasu, Navy Curry, Iekei Ramen, and Kenchin Soup"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Classic Souvenir: \u201cShumai\u201d<\/h2>\r\n
\"The<\/div>\r\n

Yokohama ranks first in shumai consumption nationwide. Shumai has also become a classic souvenir of Yokohama. The reason behind this is the famous \u201cShiumai\u201d from Kiyoken, founded in Yokohama in 1908. Kiyoken developed shumai that remained delicious even when cold and began selling them to train passengers. It quickly gained nationwide recognition as a Yokohama souvenir.
\r\nWhen visiting Chinatown, you\u2019ll find many restaurants specializing in shumai, but in Yokohama, it\u2019s also common to purchase them at supermarkets and enjoy them as part of home cooking.<\/p>\r\n\n

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Read Next<\/div>\n
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How to eat Shumai Bento | Why Kiyoken’s Shumai tastes great even when cold<\/div>\n
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How to eat Shumai Bento | Why Kiyoken’s Shumai tastes great even when cold <\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cEkiben\u201d are very familiar to the Japanese people. Its history can be traced back about 140 years, and a uniquely Japanese culture rarely seen elsewhere. Ekiben are also unique to their own local specialties and tastes. Taiwanese writer Riichi Chang spoke with the PR manager of Kiyoken, Akane Yamamoto. Yamamoto mentions that the Yokohama unique \u201cShumai Bento\u201d is considered to be the perfect example for the Ekiben. <\/p><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Juvenile Sardines: \u201cShirasu\u201d<\/h2>\r\n
\"Juvenile<\/div>\r\n

In the Shonan area, fishing for juvenile sardines known as \u201cshirasu\u201d has been practiced since the Edo period.
\r\nShirasu caught in spring and autumn, which are sardine spawning seasons, are fatty and exceptionally delicious. Since they lose freshness quickly, they are often boiled or sun-dried. However, in the Shonan area, you can enjoy freshly caught \u201craw shirasu.\u201d A local specialty is the \u201craw shirasu bowl,\u201d generously topped with raw shirasu and served with toppings such as seaweed, shiso leaves, and raw egg yolk.<\/p>\r\n

The Root of Japanese Home Cooking: \u201cNavy Curry\u201d<\/h2>\r\n
\"The<\/div>\r\n

\u201cNavy Curry\u201d is said to be the origin of Japanese home-style curry. During the Meiji era, many sailors in the Japanese navy suffered from beriberi, a disease caused by vitamin deficiency. To address this, a nutritious curry packed with meat and vegetables was created. Soldiers who returned to their hometowns recreated the taste of navy curry, spreading it across the country.
\r\nIn the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, long periods at sea can make it difficult to keep track of the days since the scenery hardly changes. To prevent sailors from losing their sense of time, curry rice is served every Friday without exception.<\/p>\r\n

Rich Soup You Can\u2019t Resist! \u201cYokohama Iekei Ramen\u201d<\/h2>\r\n
\"Rich<\/div>\r\n

\u201cYokohama Iekei Ramen\u201d features a pork and chicken bone broth blended with soy sauce seasoning, creating a pork-soy sauce base. It is served with straight, thick noodles, topped with spinach, roast pork, and nori seaweed. A key feature is that customers can adjust the firmness of the noodles, the strength of the flavor, and the amount of fat.
\r\nYokohama Iekei Ramen originated in 1974 with the opening of \u201cYoshimura-ya.\u201d The term \u201cIekei\u201d (house-style) comes from the fact that many franchised shops used the suffix \u201c-ya\u201d (meaning house) in their names.<\/p>\r\n

Kenchin Soup Rooted in Kamakura<\/h2>\r\n
\"Kenchin<\/div>\r\n

\u201cKenchin Soup\u201d is a beloved home-style dish across Japan. Its origins trace back more than 700 years to Kencho-ji Temple in Kamakura. As a Buddhist vegetarian dish, it contains no animal products\u2014vegetables such as daikon radish and carrots are stir-fried in oil, then simmered in a broth made from kombu and shiitake mushrooms. According to tradition, the dish began when a monk dropped some tofu, and the Zen master salvaged it by rinsing it and adding it to the pot. This gave rise to the custom of crumbling firm tofu by hand into the soup, a practice still followed today.<\/p>\r\n\n

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Read Next<\/div>\n
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5 Local foods in TOCHIGI | Utsunomiya gyoza, Sano ramen, Nikko yuba, Ichigo, and Toteyaki<\/div>\n
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5 Local foods in TOCHIGI | Utsunomiya gyoza, Sano ramen, Nikko yuba, Ichigo, and Toteyaki <\/p><\/div>\n

Tochigi Prefecture is dotted with tourist locations, like the World Heritage Site known as Nikko Toshogu. It\u2019s also the home of Lake Chuzenji, which has been a popular summer resort since the Meiji period. Although the prefecture has no ocean access, the Kinugawa and Naka rivers bless the are with abundant water and river fish. It\u2019s also the largest producer of strawberries and kanpyo (dried gourd) in Japan, and has many specialty products.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n <\/a>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you think of Kanagawa, many people probably imagine \u201cshumai\u201d or \u201ciekei ramen.\u201d Yokohama is home to Japan\u2019s largest Chinatown, lined with countless restaurants serving authentic Chinese cuisine. Meanwhile, in the Shonan area, blessed with rich fishing grounds, freshly caught \u201craw shirasu bowls\u201d are especially popular.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":2593,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[56],"class_list":["post-2590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-slug_articles","tag-what"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2590"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2595,"href":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2590\/revisions\/2595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodie-foodie.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}