Rice, Noodle, Fish (38 page)

“You have to work so hard these days to get the perfect ingredients,” says Chikako, nearing the end of her pile of fish. “You have to grow everything yourself, pick everything yourself.”

“Noto food is the perfect cipher,” says Tomiko, “because it can only exist in Noto.”

“I'll stand right next to my mom in the kitchen and make the same recipe with the same ingredients using the same technique, and mine will turn out different every time.”

“It's a training with your body,” says Tomiko. “It's like a sushi chef, it's an exact routine that your body just knows. An instinct more than something you can explain.”

“There is knowledge I just don't have,” says daughter, down to her last few fish, her cutting board dark with blood and guts. “I know less than half. I know that much.”

“There's a season cycle,” says mother, “and Chikako is following the season cycle, and the more she knows, the more she will need to learn each season.”

“I don't know enough about picking mushrooms,” says daughter. “I don't know wild game.”

“You must be patient,” says mother.

“I should know more about mountain vegetables,” says daughter.

“I never learned the mountain pig,” says mother. “That is one of my regrets.”

“I don't know what I don't know,” says daughter, her hands purple with the fish departed. “That's what bothers me most.”

“You're doing it right,” says mother. “You're almost there. Almost.”

 

(Matt Goulding)

 

(Matt Goulding)

Japan is a country made for train travel. It's not just the sleek Shinkansen that snake silently through the countryside; it's an entire culture of train cuisine developed around Japan's preferred method of transportation. That means cold beer, hot tea, salty snacks, and a steady supply of
ekiben
, first-class bento boxes based on regional specialties and sold exclusively in train stations.

The first
ekiben
was created in 1885. Since then, more than two thousand local bento have been developed, mostly by small, family-run operations, giving you a chance to taste a town—the grilled beef tongue of Sendai! the buckwheat buns of Nagano!—without ever leaving the train platform. Of course, your goal should be to hunt down the
ekiben
at their source, but if you need to cheat, you can head to Matsuri in Tokyo Station, which offers 170
ekiben
from around the country.

After ten thousand kilometers and over a hundred train meals, these
ekiben
have emerged as the finest movable feasts in Japan.

(Matt Goulding)

UNI, IKURA, TAMAGO

Hakodate Station

The best eggs in Hokkaido combined in one beautiful bowl: creamy curls of sea urchin, briny orbs of salmon roe, and soft, sweet deposits of chicken eggs, with the vinegar twang of pickled vegetables to tie it all together. Best when washed down with one of Hokkaido's many microbrews.

(Matt Goulding)

TOHGE-NO-KANEMESHI

Yokokawa Station

A treasure trove stuffed full of Yokokawa's most famous flavors: tender soy-marinated chicken thigh, fat caps of shiitake, bamboo shoots, sweet chestnut, and a single boiled quail's egg. All served in
mashiko ware
, a clay pot perfect to take home.

(Matt Goulding)

KASHIWA MESHI

Tosu Station

This is the most famous of the hundreds of chicken-based
ekiben
—for a reason. The shaved marinated chicken, the shreds of fried egg, and the rice cooked in a rich chicken stock hit all the right notes: sweet, savory, umami-rich, and perfectly portable. (The side of juicy shumai dumplings doesn't hurt, either.)

(Matt Goulding)