6/19/2012

"Nokkedon" - Seafood Bowl of Your Own Taste

I said Aomori is famous for apples and namaco (sea cucumber) in the previous posts, and this time, I recommend fresh seafood caught along the coast of Aomori.

"Nokke" means "dish up" and "don (donburi)" means bowl, and at "Aomori Gyosai Center (= Aomori fish and vegetable market)", you can get your original seafood bowl which can definitely be cheaper than the one at sushi restaurants.


This is Aomori Gyosai Center in Furukawa, Aomori-City, located only several-minute walk from Aomori Station, and you can get very fresh seafood, vegetables, dried seafood and delicatessen here.

First of all, you get a 1,000-yen ticket (100-yen x 10), and then you move to get rice in a bowl at the shop with an orange sign. 100 yen for regular serve, and 200 yen for larger serve.

500-yen ticket is also available.


At an orange sign shop, you can also get a green perilla, which is for both garnishing and flavoring, for 10 yen, and sushi vinegar for free.


With rice in a bowl in your hands, move to over 30 shops with blue flag to make your own bowl! At every blue flag shop, raw fish are cut into pieces, and cost between 100 yen – 200 yen (sea urchin is usually 300 yen).

 
In my case, scallop and salmon are must,
and in an aluminium cup, I have wasabi
flavored whelk.

Now “engawa”, soft bones supporting
the fins of a flatfish is added.

Spot shrimp in the middle.

Japanese taste omelet is added.

Boiled mantis shrimps and Japanese ice fish
(with cherry blossom flavoring) added.

Including pickles of mountain vegetable
beside the bowl, it cost just 1,000 yen.
 
This blue store curtain indicates the place you can
sit and enjoy your nokkedon. On the table,
chopsticks, soy sauce and wasabi are available.
 

 You can have hot green tea and
cold barley tea for free.

It'll be crowded if you visit the market around noon.

Nokkedon is very convenient, and it's so good that you can choose your favorites only. Talking about ikura (salmon roe), I like it OK but I don't need it for my nokkedon.

It's worth trying that it costs only 1/3 of other restaurants and sushi bars.


Aomori Gyosai Center: 1-11-16 Furukawa, Aomori City
                              Aomori, Japan
                              http://www.aomori-ichiba.com/

Aomori Sightseeing Guide "aptinet": http://en.aptinet.jp/

6/07/2012

“Namaco” - Sea Cucumber

Aomori is famous for apples, but also “namaco” (sea cucumber) is quite famous that the catch is more than 1,200t every year.

Namaco is echinoderm same as sea urchin and starfish, and it’s consumed raw or people enjoy namaco soup or namako porridge using dried namaco.

There’s “Aomori Namaco Branding Council” to promote consumption of sea cucumbers, and they sell various products out into the market. Here are some of them.

Pancake

Looks like a namaco a bit.

With sesame paste filling.

Stickers: kids might feel familiar to namaco?
Fan
Post-it: very useful in the office
Cell-phone strap: real dried sea cucumber!
Cell-phone strap: (lucky charm) contains dried
sea cucumber powder

Black for oily skin, blue for dry skin and green for sensitive skin.
You can get these goods at ASPAM, Aomori Prefecture Tourist Center.
ASPAM: 1-1-40 Yasukata, Aomori-shi, Aomori Prefecture

Aomori Sightseeing Guide "apti net" : http://en.aptinet.jp/ 

6/06/2012

Beech Forest in Mt. Hakkoda

There’s a world heritage site Shirakami Sanchi in the western part of Aomori Prefecture, and besides Shirakami, there are other places you can see beautiful beech forest in Aomori. ☆Photo courtesy by TK. Maeda

Photo taken on May 20th.

One of them is located along Prefectural Route 40 in Mt. Hakkoda (takes about 50 minutes from city central and no public transportations to get there).


  
It’s not certain that a hole around the foot of the tree
is caused by stem temperature or wind.





This is another beautiful scenery in Mt. Hakkoda, Tsuta-numa (numa=marsh). There are 7 marshes in this area, and you can enjoy 90-minute walk along the track surrounding the marshes.


Pretty azalea was in bloom.

In Tsuta, you can also enjoy hot spring staying at “Tsuta Hot Spring Inn” selected as one of Japan’s 100 Best Hot Spring. Unfortunately, there were no photos this time, but I bet it’s a must-visit place if you come to Aomori.

Aomori Sightseeing Guide "apti net": http://en.aptinet.jp/






6/05/2012

Apple Soft Ice Cream

Another soft ice cream.
At ASPAM, Aomori Prefecture Tourist Center, you can enjoy the taste of Aomori.
Aomori is quite famous for apples that more than half the apples produced in Japan come from Aomori. There are heaps of various apple products and this ice cream is one of them. It’s soft-served and vanilla and pure apple syrup taste, and chopped fresh apple at the bottom of the cup with apple syrup again. Needless to say, it's delicious!!



Besides apple ice cream, you can also try “scallop soft ice cream” at another shop in ASPAM. I’ve never tasted it before so that I can’t say it’s good or not. If you want to try, please drop in at ASPAM.

Aomori Sightseeing Guide "aptinet":  http://en.aptinet.jp/