Saitama prefecture

[torakris]

What else is Saitama known for?

look here for some links:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...76entry723876

[Hiroyuki]

What else?? It's difficult for me to answer. All I can think of is souka senbei...

And I do like souka senbei.

This site tells you that the top three specialities are

1. Souka senbei

2. Fukaya negi (leek)

3. Sayama cha (tea)

http://guriuri.com/ranking/pre/page_523/Tbl224.html

[Palladion]

My city is right next to Souka, and I go there fairly often.

On a visit about a month ago, I noticed a small, really neat, inconspicuous statue sitting at a table at Souka Station:

I'm fairly sure she's grilling a sembei. I'm not sure of the what that actually entails, so I'm not completely sure, but I can't think of anything else that it might be...

I've eaten Souka sembei a few times, but I don't really eat sembei often enough to be able to tell the difference between the good ones and the regular ones.

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Alex Parker

[torakris]

looks like she is grilling sembei to me.....

I have to admit though that I don't believe I have ever eaten Souka sembei...

[Hiroyuki]

I have to admit though that I don't believe I have ever eaten Souka sembei...

←

Maybe you have.

This is a typical souka senbei:

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/happy/jollyboy/senbthis.htm

Types of souka senbei:

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/happy/jollyboy/senbkind.htm

How to make souka senbei:

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/happy/jollyboy/senbhow.htm

The statue of a woman making senbei:

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/happy/jollyboy/senbwhat.htm

Have you??

(All links are Japanese only.)

[Akiko]

Palladion, I used to live in Koshigaya. Have you been there to try the white gyoza?

I still have dreams about it.

And I must admit a fondness for the Cafe Du Monde in Souka, beignets and their lovely chicory coffee.

[melonpan]

Palladion, I used to live in Koshigaya.  Have you been there to try the white gyoza?

I still have dreams about it.

i have no idea what white gyoza are. i looked it up and <a href="http://www.virtualgaijin.com/japanblog/archives/000011.html">one guy writes</a><blockquote>"White Gyoza is the name of a unique store in Maebashi, the capital city of Gunma, and it's also the name of the one food they make: A type of gyoza (gyoza is the Japanese-Chinese word for "pot stickers" or "dumplings" like you buy at a Chinese restaurant) with a really thick, soft "munchy" skin. It's one of my favorite foods in Japan, and was on my "Must Eat" list."</blockquote>thick, munchy skin.... it sounds good! are the fillings typical? beef/pork and chives? seafood? or anything? is it the skin that sets this apart from others?

[Akiko]

Oh, melonpan, just describing it to you is going to bring tears to my eyes.

If you are ever in Koshigaya you must go find it. It's been so long, I'm not sure I would know how to get there any longer... I think the closest stop is Minami Koshigaya station. It's a tiny shack of a place, hidden from the main road but at certain times of the day you will see people lining up out the door to pick up packages of it to eat at home. I think the only other place for white gyoza is the place you found a description for on the web.

The skin is the main part... I think there must be mochiko in it but its not thin skinned. Instead it is thick, munchy, crisp, and oh so wonderfully chewy. But the filling is wonderful also, pork, garlic, and I can't remember if there were chives. And of course their dipping sauce just went so perfectly with it (soy and vinegar). Oh, and these are probably double the size of a normal gyoza.

It's a nothing of a place, most people pick up to take home but you can eat there. There is a window into a room full of women just folding up the gyoza all day.

[torakris]

I have never heard of white gyouza but this huge screen sized picture is making me want to get on the train and head for Saitama:

http://uchio.hp.infoseek.co.jp/gyoza/white.jpg

[Palladion]

No, I haven't had that white gyouza (nor even heard of it) but now I really want to make a trip there to try it. These pictures look great!

I did a little search on the web. Is this the store that you're talking about:

White Gyouza?

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Alex Parker

[torakris]

生餃子 20個入 462円

生餃子 30個入 683円

wow at those prices pick some up for me too!

[Hiroyuki]

That must be it. I did a search myself, and found that white gyoza is a chain headquartered in Noda city, Chiba prefecture.

The website of white gyoza (Japanese only):

http://www.white-gyouza.co.jp/

A site showing photos of Kameari branch of that chain:

http://homepage3.nifty.com/manpukutai/FOOD.../ETC/WHITE.html

I didn't know anything about white gyoza, either.

[Akiko]

Yes! That is it!

Yum! I didn't think they had that many stores, I wonder if due to the popularity, they opened many more stores in the last 7 years (gosh, it doesn't seem like I left Japan that long ago). If there is one near where you live, I suggest you go!

[Hiroyuki]

I forgot to talk about gokabo. It's a specialty of Kumagaya in Saitama prefecture.

Today, my sister-in-law gave us this traditional confection.

It's a favoriate of my mother's.

http://www.infocreate.co.jp/hometown/kumagaya/dentoh-e.html

http://www.sainokuni-kanko.jp/english/specialties/sp.html

Gokabo is written as 五家宝. Even native Japanese may have difficulty associating gokabo with these kanji.

[tokyogurumegal]

Interesting topic... Often snotty Tokyo people call Saitama "Dasaitama". But I think Saitama gets a bad rap. It's a little out of the way but Kawagoe is a wonderful little town worth visiting. They're known for satsumaimo (sweet potato but the purple kind) and their okura (massive storage building) style architecture. It's a great place to take friends visiting from overseas, you won't find architecture like that in Tokyo most of these types of buildings were destroyed during the war.

A little off the main drag, there's a small street with rows of stores that sells dagashi. Dagashi is something that your parents would have had when they were kids, now are considered cute, kitchy, retro junk food.

I need to figure out how to post pictures on my forum response... I have great pictures of Kawagoe from my last visit there.

[torakris]

tokyogurumegal,

you might be interested in our dagashi thread.

and please post your pictures when you get the chance!

[Robinjw13]

Arrived here in Ogawa a week ago, visited the town hall today and was advised that Saitama is the leading producer of broccoli in Japan! Subsequently found this link:

http://www.pref.saitama.lg.jp/A06/BA00/sai...ma-e/index.html

My impression is of a quiet and unspoilt countryside and lots and lots of small-scale vegetable growing. Rice harvest has just finished and in many places is still dried traditionally, hung from poles in the fields. Satsuma-imo (sweet potato) have been dug up and stored to beat the frosts; wheat sowing just completed; daizu (soybean) harvest in a few days. An excellent sake brewery and restaurant here in Ogawa. Some good hill walking among the surrounding forests.

[torakris]

My impression is of a quiet and unspoilt countryside and lots and lots of small-scale vegetable growing. Rice harvest has just finished and in many places is still dried traditionally, hung from poles in the fields. Satsuma-imo (sweet potato) have been dug up and stored to beat the frosts;

←

Except for the quiet unspoilt countryside part you have just described my little corner of suburban Yokohama to a T.

How long will you be in Ogawa?

[Robinjw13]

Yokohama! I was talking to someone today from Yokohama, she said it was a port by the sea (sorry if that`s not the decription you would choose). Good to hear you are growing delicous food even in the town - it seems to be a feature of Japan to grow everywhere.

Seiun brewery in Ogawa make an excellent sake called shizenshu, with organically farmed rice from the farm that I`m working with and their own underground water supply. Unusual consistency. Labels are on the local paper for which the town is re-knowned.

Lots of old stone lattern-type statues at road junctions and elsewhere, excuse my ignorance for not yet knowing what these are, still learning here.

Kites and crows in the skies, white egrets (? like a small heron), herons and kingfishers in the rivers.

A musical siren at mid-day to tell folks it`s time for gohan and a similar musical rhyme at 16.00 to tell children the skies are red and it`s time to head home.

In Ogawa on business until December 3rd, let me if you`re up this way.

[pastameshugana]

Resurrecting an old thread to ask about Saitama prefecture.

My wife and I have been thinking about moving our family to Japan next year, and Saitama is rising to the top of our list of possibilities. It's close to Tokyo so we can hop on the train to get the city experience, but far enough out to have some quiet (and cheaper!) living.

Recently looked at some flats in Fujimino. Anyone with experience care to weigh in? Is there a street-food culture in this region? Any other places we should be looking at?