Niigataology

  Wappameshi is a bowl dish, a regional dish, and apart of Niigata Cuisine. It was said to have developed in 1952 (Inaka-ya, Niigata City). In Addition to Niigata Prefecture Wappameshi thats uses “cedar plank”...Fukushima Prefecture (Aizu) has a specialty of Wappameshi called “Wabakomeshi” that uses “Cypress Planks”. Akita Prefecture also has a specialty of Wappameshi called “Magewappa” named after the container itself. Wappameshi is found all over Japan and is usually served in a specialty shop.  “Wappa” refers to traditional bentwood craft with cedarwood and comes from Ainu language and means “wheel”. During the Edo period, Lord Satake, the lord of Odate Castle, used Akita cedar trees in his territory and encouraged the lower-ranked samurai to make Magewappa Bento Boxes as a side business.It is said that farmers were made to transport raw wood from the mountains to the castle town as a substitute for the supply of annual rice tax.  “Meshi” comes from the verb “Mesu” tha...

Niigata Katsudon is most known for its Tare Katsudon a category of sauced katsudon that differs from the classic, but the area is also known for its options of classics that involve egg. The area has home cooks have a preference for what sorts of eggs are with their katsudon depending on the variety, for example some like over easy or sunnyside cooked eggs in the middle of their tare katsudon, meanwhile others may just want a plain classic, or even tare katsu cooked with the egg for a salty punch of flavor. The eggs are made in a variety of ways with the pork and that can be: raw eggs (warmed), normal eggs (runny), tama-toji eggs (egg scrambled), tama tojinai (sunnyside eggs.unbound). The Chuo Ward in Niigata City has influenced the way people see differences in Classic Katsudon and the flavors they can only find in Niigata.  The first place that has been talked about in recent times is Restaurant Nagaya in Furumachi-dori that would bring the attention to people who tried the extra...

Niigata Tarekatsu is a Japanese Regional Dish from Niigata Prefecture. Tarekatsu is coated in bread-crumbs as thin pork cutlet pieces, dipped in a salty-sweet shoyu sauce, served with a bowl of rice. It is a Katsu that has originated in Niigata City where the local favorite sauce and western style pork sliced port where placed on top of niigata rice to make Tarekatsudon. When not served as a donburi, Tarekatsu can be dipped into a sauce and then it goes on to be cut in a “Sogigiri cut”, which is a cutting technique where you cut at a slant to soak up flavor, often used to cut sashimi. Being the “Fifth Harbor of Kansai”, in the olden days Niigata City was part of a route that would connect many who traded from other lands in the shipping ports. It would develop to have food that was appreciated by those who lived there as well as the travers with a variation of “Niigata Yoshoku”. There was one particular food that was served in food carts in the Showa Period and that dish was Tarekatsu....

   Updated: 4.6.2025 Description: Donburi (丼ぶり) refers to a staple Japanese rice bowl dish that is typically served with a variety of toppings with Don (丼) refers to the bowl itself and Buri (ぶり) means fish, but in the case of a donburi when attached it means dish served in a bowl. When referring to the regional Niigata Donburi (新潟丼ぶり) it has two parts with Niigata (新潟) refers to the prefecture and Donburi (丼ぶり) or Don (丼) for short, thus “Niigata Don” is a way of saying it. Niigata Donburir is from the prefecture of Niigata that is known for its lush agriculture and high-quality rice, so the starch has a special importance to the bowl, and it plays a significant role in Japan's culinary history with its Japanese-Italian variations. While Donburi as a dish is generally associated with a variety of proteins, rice, and sauces, its adaptation in Niigata would have been shaped by the region’s local ingredients, geography, and cultural influences over time. The most consumed donbur...