Ainu Cuisine

[liuzhou]

Interesting article from the BBC on a little known cuisine.

[liuzhou]

More about the Aini people, their history and culture here.

[liuzhou]

I may have eaten Ainu food. I'm not sure. Long story. The short version is that back in the 1980s one of my friends who was Irish (and still is) was working in Hokkaido and decided to marry his equally Irish girlfriend there. Somehow they got hold of a genuine Irish priest in Japan to do the deed. They also got hold of all the Guinness in the country.

I flew to Toyko, then took a bullet train to the appropriate venue, then spent three days in Ireland in Japan. The food I ate was Irish; the beer I drank was Irish; everything was Irish. Except for the last night, when I ate my only Japanese meal in Hokkaido. I can't remember a lot (all that Guinness), but it was like no Japanese food I've eaten anywhere else. I've been back to Japan many times, but never made it back to Hokkaido. I planned a trip this year, but we all know what happened to our travel plans this year.

Edited August 20, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

[Eatmywords]

Thanks for sharing, love this stuff, anything to do w Japanese culture a food traditions.  Bourdain did a Hokkaido episode many years ago with an Ainu segment  you might enjoy (min 25)  https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5wyvwjnd .  I'm re-watching it now and sad again that he's gone.  Pretty cool he used to post on eGullet.  Anyway, very interesting the rich history of the Ainu.  

 

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, Eatmywords said:

 Bourdain did a Hokkaido episode many years ago with an Ainu segment  you might enjoy (min 25)  https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5wyvwjnd .

 

 

Yes. Saw that a while back. Will watch again.

[Eatmywords]

How about the butter and corn in the ramen?  Haven't seen that before.

[Duvel]

That takes me back ...

 

About 20 years ago I was invited to a research conference in Sapporo. I ised the trip to explore Hokkaido a bit, and one night me and my girlfriend did a home stay with an Ainu family literally in the middle of nowhere, who treated us to a wonderful ishikari-nabe, or salmon hot pot. Some salmon jerky was offered and we had a great evening with our hosts ...

 

Edited August 20, 2020 by Duvel (log)

[Duvel]

4 minutes ago, Eatmywords said:

How about the butter and corn in the ramen?  Haven't seen that before.

Miso ramen with butter & corn is classic Sapporo ramen, and hugely popular all over Japan in recent years ...

[Eatmywords]

1 hour ago, Duvel said:

That takes me back ...

 

About 20 years ago I was invited to a research conference in Sapporo. I ised the trip to explore Hokkaido a bit, and one night me and my girlfriend did a home stay with an Ainu family literally in the middle of nowhere, who treated us to a wonderful ishikari-nabe, or salmon hot pot. Some salmon jerky was offered and we had a great evening with our hosts ...

 

 

 

That's awesome!  I bet an experience you'll never forget!  I'm guessing (instead of googling) the corn and butter are a Russian influence?  I'll google later.