Traditional fast food | R290 Tochio's fried bean curd, a roadside station
I want a quick bite to eat...
Should I go to McDonald's or Starbucks? Starbucks?
No, it's Tochio!
The Tochio area (formerly Tochio City) is located in the mountainous region of Nagaoka.
Have you ever heard of "Tochio's fried tofu"?
It refers to the region's traditional large, thick fried tofu.
It is Tochio's soul food, which has been around for more than 200 years.
According to my rough research, there are about 16 fried tofu shops in the Tochio area.
You may be wondering, "I'm interested in fried bean curd, but which shop should I go to?
You ask yourself, "Which shop should I go to?
Let's go to all of them!
It is very difficult to say.
My recommendation is the Tochio Roadside Station!
Roadside Station R290 Tochio is located near the centre of Tochio town.
There is a restaurant outside this station where you can eat freshly fried food on the spot.
Poof, it looks like a kitchen car.
You can order here.
I ordered "Abura-age with green onion (400 yen)".
You can have it deep-fried after ordering.
It came out immediately.
Pour soy sauce all over it.
The inside is not just stuffed with tofu, but is like a fluffy cake sponge.
So it is freshly fried and crispy on the outside.
The inside is moist and fluffy!
The size is 20 centimetres, but it's light enough to eat!
Light enough to be eaten as a casual snack, it's the ultimate fast food.
Mmmm, yummy!
If you still have room in your stomach, order the fried rice cake (200 yen for 2 pieces).
The fried rice cake takes about 4 minutes to fry.
As the name suggests, these are fried rice cakes, but the sweetness of the sticky rice combined with the sweetness of the soy sauce makes them so delicious!
This time I had the one with green onion, but I also recommend the one with kimchi.
I had the one with green onions this time, but I also recommend the 'kimchi' flavour, which has no kimchi itself, but a sweet and spicy gochujang-style sauce.
Personally, I prefer this one because it has a bit more weight to it!
If you like spicy, this is for you too!
Passing through Tochio will take you to the Uonuma area and Fukushima.
It's a good idea to stop here on your journey!
GoogleMaps:Route from NEMARU to Tochio Stagecoach R290
Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2022 (1) | Echigo-Tsumari Exchange Centre KINARE
Did you know that the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial will be held in Niigata in 2022?
Many people in the Kansai region may be familiar with the Setouchi International Art Festival, but the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale was started under the same person as that festival.
The festival was held in Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture, and other satoyama areas.
The innkeeper is ashamed to say that he has hardly ever attended the festival before, and this is the first time he has bought a passport to view the artworks!
Once you buy a passport, you can see almost all of the more than 300 works of art during the exhibition period.
You can't see them all in a day or two.
Also, the venue is very large.
The whole countryside of several towns is the stage.
If you're serious about it, you might want to rent a car or a private car!
This time, for a quick tour with a 30-minute stay, we visited the Echigo-Tsumari Exchange Centre KINARE, the central venue of the art festival, and the Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art MonET, which is located inside KINARE!
KINARE has a central atrium that was flooded with water this year.
The contents change from time to time, and some years there have been mountain-like artworks placed there.
The weather was fantastic today, so the photos are great!
You can enter the venue after taking your temperature.
There is usually an entrance fee, but if you buy a pass you can enter a certain number of times for free!
For a day trip or a night or two, it is better to pay an entrance fee each time so that you can enter as many times as you like!
Part of the Kinare is a museum.
The artworks are installed for different periods of time, so the content may change each time you visit.
Inside, there are various works of art that you can touch, feel and feel the wind.
Of course, there are some artworks that are not allowed to be touched, so be sure to follow the rules!
There is also a café and a souvenir shop.
(A certain person who rented wifi at NEMARU was also exhibiting).
It's surprisingly close, just over an hour from NEMARU, so I'd love to drive around the art again!
Google Maps: Route from NEMARU to Kinare
Teradomari area sightseeing lunch | Kinpachi seafood set meal
One of Nagaoka's most popular tourist attractions is Teradomari, a port town on the Sea of Japan.
It is a 20-minute drive from NEMARU, so the head innkeeper often goes there for fishing and driving.
In the previous article we talked about ramen, but we also want to eat rice.
Especially today, I want fried horse mackerel!
You know those times when you want fried horse mackerel, don't you?
Haven't you?
I recommend the Kinpachi Crab Inn in the port city of Teradomari!
It is distinguished by a mysterious monument that has been there for a long time.
As the name suggests, this is an inn where you can enjoy crab, but it is also open for lunch.
Their lunch menu is all reasonably priced and delicious!
It is served in a tatami room overlooking the sea.
I personally recommend the "really tasty" fried horse mackerel set meal.
It comes with three huge fried horse mackerel.
The phrase "really tasty" is not a lie.
They are fried to order, so they are hot, crispy and fluffy! The most delicious!
I like Taru-taru sauce, so I put as much as I can on the last one.
It's so good that I've included an enlarged photo.
Of course, the other sashimi menus are also fresh and very tasty!
And the miso soup that comes with them is just crab soup.
I didn't ask what they use for rice, but I think it's koshihikari.
And you can have all this for around 1,000 yen!
Why not come here if you come to Teradomari?
I definitely recommend it if you come to Teradomari.
Teradomari Aquarium is next door, so it's good to enjoy it together.
The penguins are so cute!
If you have children with you, they will love it.
Whether you appreciate the fish and enjoy your meal, or eat and then appreciate the fish... it's up to you!
(If you look at them after eating, you might say, "That's the one I just ate!")
A turtle house seems to have been built recently.
The sight of the tortoises walking around is very reassuring.
(Surprisingly fast)
GoogleMaps: Route from NEMARU to Kinpachi Crab Inn
You have to try the ginger soy sauce ramen | Nagaoka City's Aoshima Shokudo
This time we introduce Aoshima Shokudo, a Nagaoka style ginger soy sauce ramen.
This 'system' is important!
Nagaoka ramen is not just about ginger soy sauce.
There are also various ginger soy sauce restaurants in and around the city, so it's a nuance that is very Nagaoka.
This ambiguity is good.
Nagaoka ramen is different.
I think this is one of the reasons why ramen has taken root in Niigata.
But that's a long story, so I'll leave it for another article...
Well, I think it could just be regular Nagaoka ginger soy sauce (appropriate).
Apparently Niigata City was recently ranked number one in the world for the cost of eating ramen.
Who cares about the ranking?
Ramen culture is so widespread in Niigata Prefecture that it seems like a good idea.
The queues for cup ramen in local supermarkets are also unusually long.
(The sweets section is also huge).
We eat white rice at home, so at least we eat noodles when we go out...
What a reason, eh?
In recent years, it has become known as one of the top five ramen restaurants in Niigata.
Hangzhou Restaurant, famous for its Tsubame-Sanjo back fat ramen, has been in business for over 80 years.
Aoshima Shokudo, featured here, has also been in business for 60 years and has long been popular with locals.
The so-called B-class gourmet food, which has become a local speciality in the prefecture, is also a local speciality.
These are all long-established restaurants that have been around since the end of World War II!
I often go to the Magarishinmachi branch.
Inside, the kitchen is the centre of the restaurant and everyone sits facing it.
The kitchen is built like a theatre stage.
(Something about the partitions in between gives it a sense of urgency).
*Image shows chashu noodles.
Are there any ramen noodles with Naruto swimming in them these days?
At first glance, this is the ramen of the year!
It has the appearance of a standard soy sauce ramen.
When you first heard of ginger shoyu ramen, did you think it had ginger floating in it?
Some restaurants add grated ginger to the soup.
At Qingdao Shokudo, it is added as an extract.
The recipe is something that only people who have worked there know.
The soy sauce-based soup in which the ginger extract is dissolved is deep and rich.
It is a ramen with the best of sweet and savoury flavours.
Not just the soup.
The owner likes the finely sliced chashu pork, which is full of flavour.
I also like the thin noodles, which are a bit chewy.
The spinach is a good accent and I like it a lot.
I like the seaweed so much that I want to put 10 sheets of it on the table.
I also choose the pepper of the day and put a lot of pepper on it!
I like it too much!
It's such a fascinating ramen.
Depending on the restaurant, you can increase the amount of each ingredient in the ramen (for an extra charge) or order noodles with a harder consistency.
You can even make the soup as thick as you like.
That's too much freedom!
There are currently four shops in Nagaoka near Miyauchi Station and several in Niigata City.
There seems to be one in Akihabara, Tokyo.
If you're in Nagaoka, you should visit at least once!
GoogleMaps: Route from NEMARU to Aoshima Shokudo, Magarishinmachi branch.
I am pleased to meet you!
I'm Miura, innkeeper at NEMARU Stay&Discovery, a self-renovated inn in Yoita-machi, Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture!
I have started a blog.
Here I would like to transmit a variety of information related to the inn.
Thank you very much for your cooperation.
