Kozuyu is a local dish of Aizu Wakamatsu, which used to be served as a dish for the head of the Aizu Wakamatsu clan. The soup is made from a dashi stock of dried scallops and other ingredients such as carrots, shiitake, kikurage, warabi and satoimo. They are simmered together with a little bit of soy sauce to taste. It is served in a red shallow Aizu-nuri dish called “teshio sara”, a lacquerware that originated in the region.
Aizu region is one of the leading areas for sake production. Aizu’s climate, and the fact that it was the castle town of the Aizu clan in the Edo period have contributed to the growth of Sake making in the area. Each distillery keep honing their skills and they have won the gold medal at the Annual Japan Sake Awards. There are a number of high-quality, award-winning distilleries and ther sake in Aizu.
Dengaku is a signature dish of Aizu Wakamatsu. Ingredients like konnyaku, fried tofu, mochi, satoimo are skewered, glazed with a sauce of akamiso, sugar and yakumi spices, then grilled over a charcoal fire.
Wappa-meshi—rice is seasonal vegetables, and other ingredients steamed together in a wooden container. To this day, sake brewing continues in the traditional manner that was developed during the Edo period. As you try each local dish, enjoy how the flavors of the surrounding nature are brought to life.
Aizuwakamatsu’s old samurai residences evoke an image of a bygone warrior era, and the agrarian scenery of rice paddies against the background of Mount Bandai and the Iide Mountains captures the essence of Aizu’s landscape. Tsurugajo Castle, a symbol of the city, provides a wide view of the changing beauty of the seasons in Aizu Basin and the old castle town.
The foods eaten in Aizuwakamatsu follow the seasons: asparagus in spring, tomatoes in summer, rice and sake in autumn, and Aizu Jidori free-range chicken in winter.
