Niigata prefecture

[Hiroyuki]

I went to this small, local festival, "Shinmai Matsuri", today, first with my son and later by myself.

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Actually, this festival is part of the campaign that is running in the Shiozawa area (from October 1 to November 3).

The name of the campaign: Shiozawa Shinmai Campaign.

Here is the cover of the guide to the campaign:

Map inside the guide:

I'm planning to go to one of the twenty restaurants in the Shiozawa area that participate in the campaign and report back.

If you want to see the guide in more detail, here is the web version of it:

http://shiozawa.interwindow.net/

Scroll down and click the photo of the cover of the guide.

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Of the twenty restaurants participating in the campaign, I selected Matsui Shokudo

That was two years ago. This year, I went to another restaurant, an izakaya actually.

I had lunch there. You can see some photos here.

[Hayley Casarotto]

I went to this small, local festival, "Shinmai Matsuri", today, first with my son and later by myself.

←

Actually, this festival is part of the campaign that is running in the Shiozawa area (from October 1 to November 3).

The name of the campaign: Shiozawa Shinmai Campaign.

Here is the cover of the guide to the campaign:

Map inside the guide:

I'm planning to go to one of the twenty restaurants in the Shiozawa area that participate in the campaign and report back.

If you want to see the guide in more detail, here is the web version of it:

http://shiozawa.interwindow.net/

Scroll down and click the photo of the cover of the guide.

←

Of the twenty restaurants participating in the campaign, I selected Matsui Shokudo

That was two years ago. This year, I went to another restaurant, an izakaya actually.

I had lunch there. You can see some photos here.

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Hiroyuki-san, is your local sushi shop you report from involved in this campaign?

[Hiroyuki]

No, but they do use Koshihikari rice produced in the Uonuma (not Minami Uonuma) district of Niigata prefecture.

[Hiroyuki]

I went to this small, local festival, "Shinmai Matsuri", today, first with my son and later by myself.

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I went to the Shinmai Matsuri (New Rice Festival) again this year. I posted some photos here.

[melonpan]

I went to this small, local festival, "Shinmai Matsuri", today, first with my son and later by myself.

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I went to the Shinmai Matsuri (New Rice Festival) again this year. I posted some photos here.

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seems like a nice little festival!

ive been holding off on buying rice bc i wanted to wait for the new crop to come in. we have just a weeks worth left.

just checked last week, still no new rice. it should be in soon!

[Hiroyuki]

At Shiozawa Sangyo Matsuri (Industrial Fair), I bought eight La France pears for

300 yen (200 yen discount from the indicated price of 500 yen because the fair is coming to an end).

According to Wikipedia, in France, this variety is named Claude Blanchet after the person who found it.

[prasantrin]

Y300 in total?? Holy crap! At my local Coop today, I spied a box of 8 pears or 9 for Y4000!! I passed...

I've got to spend more time in the country!

[Hiroyuki]

The International University of Japan is located in my city, Minami Uonuma. On November 8, they had this event:

International Festival 2008

In the Vietnam booth,

they had pho:

In the Phillipines booth,

they had this rice dish, which I don't know the name of:

In the India booth,

they had this curry dish:

In the Central Asia booth,

(beautiful ladies and a handsome boy, by the way)

they sold this dish, which I don't know the name of, either:

All the dishes shown above were 100 yen each. Very, very reasonable. I shouldn't have had lunch so I could eat more of the dishes offered there.

Edited to add: More photos can be found here in a blog of mine.

Edited November 8, 2008 by Hiroyuki (log)

[nakji]

100 yen for a bowl of pho? Now that's a real good price! How many dishes did you try, and which was your favourite?

Hey, is that your son?

[Hiroyuki]

100 yen for a bowl of pho? Now that's a real good price! How many dishes did you try, and which was your favourite?

Hey, is that your son?

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Three at the festival (the pho, the philliphine rice dish, and the Indian curry) and one after I got home (the Central Asian rice dish). I liked the curry best. I must say that all the dishes I had tasted rather "foreign" to me, and I don't have the words to describe their flavors.

No, it' not my son. He was a cute, smart boy, and spoke perfect Japanese.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

The pho looks like a pretty good version of the pho ga that I get at the pho restaurants here. My husband prefers the beef pho though.

The Indian curry looks good, but really caught my eye was the chapati (the flatbread) served with it. I love homemade chapati, which remind me of the homemade wheat flour tortillas my neighbors used to make.

edited to add- I looked at your blog entry about it. Those Okinawan donuts made me feel homesick too. The Buddhist temple that my grandparents attend in Los Angeles has a big 2 day festival for Obon every year, and Okinawan donuts are sold there. When I was a teenager, I loved to eat them. I haven't had one in 10 years.

Edited November 9, 2008 by MomOfLittleFoodies (log)

[prasantrin]

The Indian curry looks good, but really caught my eye was the chapati (the flatbread) served with it. I love homemade chapati, which remind me of the homemade wheat flour tortillas my neighbors used to make.

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It kind of looked half-cooked, to me. I love homemade chapati, too. I even brought atta from Canada so I could make some. It's soooo easy!

Y100 is a steal for each of those dishes, especially considering their sizes (you'd pay a minimum Y500 at a festival in the Kansai area for any of those).

At the Central Asian booth--the fried stuff--was it just fried pastry, or was it filled with something?

The Filipino dish looks like the Filipino version of congee/jook/okayu. The lemon is a bit out of place, but it's probably there in place of calamansi. Was that fried garlic sprinkled on top? Everything is better with fried garlic!

[torakris]

I am another one astounded by the prices! We hit quite a few food festivals this fall and almost all the dishes are in the 300 to 600 yen range with 500 yen being most common. With a family of 5 a lunch at one of these festivals costs over 5000 yen ($50)!

It may be worth a trip to Niigata next year.

[Hiroyuki]

Thanks everyone for their respective comments.

prasantrin: The pack contained two different types of fried items. It contained two small ones and one big one. The small ones were like sugarless doughnuts, while the big one had mashed potatoes (?) in it.

All the dishes served at booths run by IUJ students were 100 yen each, while foods, dishes, and other items sold at other booths were rather overpriced.

[prasantrin]

Thanks everyone for their respective comments.

prasantrin:  The pack contained two different types of fried items.  It contained two small ones and one big one.  The small ones were like sugarless doughnuts, while the big one had mashed potatoes (?) in it.

The potato-filled one was probably samsa, the forebearer of samosa, samboosa, etc.

All the dishes served at booths run by IUJ students were 100 yen each, while foods, dishes, and other items sold at other booths were rather overpriced.

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Wow! That's simply amazing! I guess it helps that it was at a university, but even at my small college, student-made food items sold at the school bazaar are a minimum Y300. And that's just for one slice of chiffon cake!

After seeing all the other booths on your blog, I wish I could have been there! Did anyone in your family try the Thai booth? I couldn't tell what they were selling--looked like yellow chicken curry and rice, which I love (and which is usually a little milder than other Thai curries, so it wouldn't be too bad for spice-adverse taste buds).

I could always make my way up next year, but I think the train fare would off-set the food savings.

Question, other than the Korean restaurant you wrote about once, are there a lot of other "ethnic" cuisines found in your area? If not, what a great opportunity that festival provided!

[Hiroyuki]

I searched for photos of the Thai booth, and unfortunately, this is the only one:

It says:

ブタパッカパオ

Buta (pork?) pakka pao

(Sorry, I don't know what to spell it in English.)

Edite to add:

pakka pao is actually

phad ka pao.

グリーンカレー

Green curry

Well, I went there alone...

Other ethnic restaurants... I don't know. I've never wanted to have any ethnic foods, so I have never searched. Probably there aren't many, considering the population of my city (a little over 60,000).

Edited November 9, 2008 by Hiroyuki (log)

[Hiroyuki]

Hi folks,

I'm new here, but I feel it's impossible to talk about Niigata specialities w/out mentioning "sasa-dango"! I just love the smell and taste of that snack. It always brings back childhood memories...

And speaking of pears, there's a pear I tasted a few winters ago in Niigata that was so good and sweet, but I don't know what variety it was. It was yellow, shaped more like a European pear, and individually wrapped in clear cellophane. Sorry, I can't find a picture of it.

Hiroyuki, I'm glad to hear you and your family is okay. I'm really impressed w/ your knowledge of food and your English!

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Le Lectier?

Here are some pics here

http://www.nature-farm.com/fruit_lectier.html

In Niigata, two Western varieties are grown, La France and Le Lectier.

Thanks for the compliment. I like sasa dango, too, expecially the flavor of those bamboo leaves.

Just out of curiosity, Nikkeijin is 日経人?

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I got a box of "Le Lectier" pears as an oseibo (year-end gift) today. I posted two photos here in my blog (last two photos).

Le Lectier is bigger than La France, but I can't tell the difference between the two in taste. Maybe I'm a poor judge of pears. I very much prefer Japanese pears (nashi).