| Japanese Food Festival to Fill Tokyo Dome |
| HYPER Cuisine |
| Thursday, 13 January 2011 09:31 |
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Tokyo Dome, one of the biggest venues in Japan with a crowd capacity of 55,000, is currently hosting the 'Furusato Matsuri', or 'Home Town Festival', which celebrates the diversity of regional food, festivals and culture around Japan. One of the highlights of the event is the National Donburi Contest, where donburi from all over the country battle it out to be voted the tastiest. Donburi is the collective name given to any dish which is served in a don, or large bowl, into which a large serving of white rice has been placed, and then topped with, basically, anything. Classic combinations include the Oyako-don, which has a chicken and egg topping (oyako literally means 'parent and child', which is a bit creepy really), and the Katsu-don, where the rice is topped with a deep-fried breaded pork cutlet. Donburi is real Japanese comfort food, and the variations are endless. The eleven entries this year include the Gobo-Donburi from Nagano, topped with local collagen-rich kurobuta pork and burdock, and the Unimeshi-Don from Hokkaido, where the rice has been cooked in a broth made from local kombu seaweed and uni, or sea urchin, a delicacy that is abundant in Hokkaido. You can take a look at all the entries here. The 2010 winner was the Shiroebi-Kaki-Don from Toyama, topped with kakiage, a type of mixed tempura, made from shiroebi, or sweet white shrimp. The festival opened its doors on January 8 and will run until January 16. AS |
