Cook the local flavors once more

Tai-meshi, pot-rice style (Hojo tai-meshi)

From: Shimanami Kaido: sea-bream rice and a salty breeze

Mixing the pot of tai-meshi with the paddle

Hojo tai-meshi is the regional dish of Hojo, in Matsuyama: a whole sea bream cooked with the rice, with nothing but bream and kelp dashi, no burdock, carrot or fried tofu. Legend says that when Empress Jingu's ship stopped at Kashima, the fishermen of Kazahaya offered her sea bream, which she had cooked on top of rice and praised for its taste.

Ingredients

Ready-to-eat Hojo tai-meshi (a pack of rice with a small ceramic pot)

How I made it

Take the pack of rice and the little pot out of the box
Put the rice in the pot, cover, and heat in the microwave
Remove the lid, loosen the rice with a paddle and mix

Sources: hojo-kazahaya.jp maff.go.jp

This moment in the journey

The pot-rice type, and a face-off

The other tai-meshi is cooked rice, like pilaf. The Hojo tai-meshi went into the microwave, little pot and all. When I lifted the lid, rice mixed with sea bream was steaming. I loosened and mixed it with a wooden paddle.

Now, both of them are staring at each other. The egg yolk ran glossy over the sashimi bowl, the sesame glistening. In Japan, there are many cultural differences between regions. Even tai-meshi from the same prefecture can be very different. We are all different, and all wonderful. In the tatami room at night, I closed out my day in Ehime.

Watch this scene on YouTube6:01

Read this scene in the full journey