Sprinkle some chopped leftover grilled fish on rice, pour on some hot tea and you’ve got chazuke, a quick meal that has been eaten in Japan for more than 1,000 years.

Ochazuke

With the leftovers from our Grilled Dried Herring article, I made a quick bowl of chazuke, or more politely, o-chazuke. Ochazuke is quick, simple and tasty. Hot tea is poured over rice with some kind of flavoring such as nori, umeboshi or in this case chopped leftover fish. Ochazuke is a good way to use rice that has been in the rice cooker a little too long.

You can use a spoon, just like for Western style soup, but Japanese usually just stir it around with chopsticks and slurp it down.

I particularly like ochazuke with brown rice and any kind of Japanese tea may be used; green tea, hojicha, bancha and genmaicha. I have even had it with maccha in a Ponto-cho restaurant, but that is unusual.

Ochazuke

Ochazuke – Pouring on Green Tea

Ochazuke – Pouring on Green Tea

Ochazuke

Ochazuke – Served

In Gion, on the way to Kiyomizu Temple is a tiny shinise shop that specializes in dorayaki, called mikasa in Kyoto dialect. Dorayaki is sweet bean paste sandwiched between two waffle-like pancakes. Doraemon fans will want to take note of this because Doraemon loves dorayaki, it is his favorite food!

Paku Says: Best Mikasa in Japan, Do Not Miss!
Shimogawara Azuki (also spelled Aduki) is famous for their mikasa, also known as dorayaki in other regions of Japan. Their sweets are really famous with locals. I used to stop by very often to buy one of their mikasa for a snack when I used to live near there. You can buy Shimogawara Azuki’s mikasa at department stores in Kyoto too, but the mikasa from the original store is different and really fresh! Fresh, puffy and even warm if you get there at the right time!

Shimogawara Azuki’s Mikasa

The waffle is soft and fluffy and the anko (azuki bean paste) is not too sweet, so you can still taste of the original flavor of the azuki beans. (Azuki in Japan is often overly sweet, sometimes extremely sweet.)

The mikasa are just 160 yen each and I think that this store offers the best mikasa in all of Japan. If you are in the neighborhood, I recommend that you try this shop for a traditional Kyoto snack. You can get a few to take out and eat them on the way up to Kiyomizu Temple.

Inside the store is a tiny seating area and you can try sit down and eat their other sweets; like maccha ice cream with mochi and azuki beans, anmitsu and zenzai. In the summer they have kakigori which is very good and refreshing. (For more about kakigori in Gion, please see this article.)

xox, Paku

Shimogawara Azuki’s Famous Dorayaki (Mikasa)

Shimogawara Azuki’s Famous Dorayaki – detail
This one has a white azuki bean filling.

Show Window: Shimogawara Azuki’s Famous Complete Dorayaki Lineup

Showcase: Zenzai and Anmitsu

Showcase: Extra Large Mikasa

This is a fine example of Japan’s plastic display case food. This magnum sized mikasa has both white and red azuki bean paste filling.

Teppan Metal Grill for Cooking the ‘Pancakes’

Kitchen Staff Filling Mikasa with Azuki Bean Paste

Shimogawara Azuki Storefront

Shimogawara Azuki Show Window

English and Access

English menu: none
English website: none
Service/Staff: so-so (go for the dorayaki, not the conversation)
Hours: 9am-6pm, closed Wednesdays
Location and Access: Shimogawara Azuki is best accessed on foot. It is located just down the street from the south gate of Yasaka Shrine on Shimogawara Street. From Shijo-Higashiyama intersection and Yasaka Shrine it is about a three minute walk.
Address
: Kyoto-shi, Higashiyama-ku, Gion, Kamibenten-cho 428 (京都市東山区祇園下河原通八坂鳥居前下ル上弁天町428)
Telephone: 075-561-3977

Near sightseeing Spot: Shimogawara Azuki is located in the heart of scenic Gion/Higashiyama near the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kiyomizu Temple and other historic places such as Yasaka Pagoda and Kodaiji Temple.

Chazuke is a quick, simple meal, easily made tasty with a little creativity and often leftovers, then just pour on some tea and eat/drink it up! I prefer to use brown rice, genmai for chazuke (and fried rice) because of it’s more complex and earthy flavor. It is far more nutritional than white rice as well. I used some grilled ichiya boshi sardines and Miwa’s favorite, grilled ginnan nuts for flavoring. For a second course, tsukemono on rice, first with no tea, then with tea.

Chazuke
Chazuke is just tea, any Japanese tea will do, poured over rice, usually with something else for flavoring. Nori, umeboshi and salmon are probably the three most popular ‘toppings’. A plethora of packaged flavorings are available to just sprinkle on, or you can used your imagination and add whatever you like, or whatever is leftover in the refrigerator.

Ichiya Boshi Fish
Ichiya-boshi literally means ‘one night dried’, or, fish dried over night. After one night, and just a little salt, the fish is of course only slightly dried. Often small, whole fish are prepared for eating this way. I used sardines here.

Ichiya-boshi is one of those fish preparations that I hope to see adopted in Western countries. Eating small fish puts far less pressure of fisheries and as the bones and sometimes the head are often eaten too, the mineral and nutrient content is far superior to just large fish flesh.

Ginnan Nuts

In Japan, the very pungent fruit from the ginnan nut is roasted with salt and enjoyed as a side dish, often with beer and sake. If you like pungent, full-bodied cheese and nuts, you will probably like ginnan. The heavy smell of roasting ginnan in the kitchen is wonderful and strongly evokes fall and early winter in Japan to me. Ginnan are also used to flavor such dishes and chawanmushi.

Miwa and I love them and I roasted and shelled some and added them to this chazuke for a flavor that was wonderful and probably unheard of in Japan. (Japanese might look at that and think that it was created by a foreigner.) It tasted great though. I guess that I just want to show how flexible chazuke is.

Chazuke with Grilled Sardines and Roasted Ginnan Fruit

Ippodo, started in 1717, is one of the most well known tea companies in Japan, with shops in all the major department stores throughout the country. As big as it has become, the original main store is still small and friendly, located on a small street just south of Gosho.

Ippodo’s tea is from the region called Uji, south of Kyoto (宇治茶, Ujicha). Uji is one of the two principle tea producing regions of Japan (the other being Shizuoka).

Ippodo has many, many kinds of tea, from cheap to very expensive. They are all excellent. Ippodo supplies detailed instructions in English regarding how to brew each tea properly. The translations are professional and proper, understandable English. Ippodo even gives a free measuring spoon with all purchases in order to make sure that the customers are able to measure out the right amount of tea at home.

The Kaboku Tearoom, recently renovated serves a wonderful assortment of Ippodo’s teas. Kaboku Tearoom is accessed via the main door of Ippodo, to the back of the store and to the right.

K. F. PekoPeko has a personal favorite and that is the Koicha Maccha. Koi means thick or stong. Cha, of course is tea. Maccha is the powdered green tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony.

Koicha Maccha comes in two varieties, Unmon-no-mukashi and Seiun. I recommend the Unmon-no-mukashi.

The Ippodo Koicha Maccha is STRONG! Most Japanese have never even seen anything like it.

Koicha Maccha isn’t just strong, it isn’t just thick. It is unbelievable! It’s the thickness of yogurt! And, this IS tea.

If you like your coffee strong, and you like tea, I highly recommend that you give this a try when you are in Kyoto.

Despite the excessive thickness, it is not bitter or disagreeable in anyway. I always feel like I am drinking a cup of verdant, gorgeous green paint.

After ‘finishing’ it the staff takes away the cup, adds more hot water, whisks it and comes back with a normal strength maccha.

All teas at Kaboku are served with wagashi.

Ippodo is a great place to buy some tea to take back home, or just to drop in for a great tea, on your way to or back from Gosho. Ippodo is just a 15 minute walk up from the Sanjo area, on Teramachi Street (寺町通り, Teramachidori). The neighborhood (Teramachi Street between Oike Street and Marutamachi Street) has many interesting shops and galleries.

If you like green tea or are feeling daring, or want to remedy jet lag, Koicha Maccha is a must try!

Kaboku’s Koicha Maccha

Koicha Maccha and wagashi — before

Koicha Maccha and wagashi — after

Koicha Maccha second time around — before

Koicha Maccha second time around — after

Ippodo store interior (notice the antique storage pots on the shelf)

Ippodo store interior (contemporary product lineup)

Ippodo facade

Ippodo facade — corner

website: (English)
Ippodo has an excellent English language website and online store and ships abroad. If you find some teas that you like here on your trip, you can still order refills even after you return home.
www.ippodo-tea.co.jp
Kaboku Tearoom

menu and staff: Ippodo has an excellent English menu and explanation of products and preparation methods. The staff speaks some English (or will try to).

一保堂、喫茶室「嘉木」、京都

map:

View Larger Map