is a Japanese term meaning literally "rare taste", but more appropriately "
delicacy
A delicacy is a rare food item that is considered highly desirable, sophisticated, or peculiarly distinctive within a given culture or region. A delicacy may have an unusual flavor or be expensive compared to everyday foods.
Delicacies va ...
". They are local cuisines that have fallen out of popularity or that are peculiar to a certain area. Many involve pickled
seafood
Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...
.
List of ''chinmi''
Hokkaidō
is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel.
The ...
area
* ''Hizunamasu''
* ''Ikanankotsu'' – Cooked soft bones of
squid
A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...
* ''Kankai'' – Dried ''
Komai'' fish. It may be eaten as is, or broiled and eaten with a sauce made by mixing
mayonnaise
Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...
and soy sauce and sprinkles of red pepper powder.
*
Kirikomi
*
Matsumaezuke
*
Mefun
* ''Saketoba'' – A smoked salmon
* ''Tachikama''
*
Uni
Tōhoku area
* ''Awabi no Kimo'' – Ground internal organs of
abalone
Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen language, Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any small to very large marine life, marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Haliotidae, which once contained six genera but now cont ...
* ''Donpiko'' – The heart of a salmon. As only one can be taken from a fish, it is very rare.
* ''Hoya'' –
sea pineapple
* ''Momijizuke'' – Shreds of fresh salmons and
Ikura pickled together
*
Tonburi – A speciality of
Akita prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is estimated 915,691 as of 1 August 2023 and its geographi ...
. The dried seeds of the ''
hosagi'' plant.
Kanto area
*
Ankimo – Either fresh or steamed liver of an Anko fish
*
Kusaya
is a salted, dried fish, dried and fermented fish that is produced in the Izu Islands, Japan. It has a pungent smell and is similar to the fermented Swedish herring surströmming.
Taste
Though the smell of kusaya is strong, its taste is quite ...
– Dried and pickled fish of Izu islands
Chūbu area
*
Fugu no Ranso no Nukazuke – detoxed blowfish ovary in rice-bran
* Hebo
*
Ika no Maruboshi
*
Inago no Tsukudani
*
Konowata
*
Kuchiko
*
Kurozukuri
*
Zazamushi
Kinki
The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolit ...
area
*
Daitokuji Natto
*
Funazushi
*
Kinzanji Miso
Chūgoku area
*
Hiroshimana
Shikoku
is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...
area
*
Chorogi
*
Katsuo no Heso
*
Shuto
*
Dorome
Kyūshū
is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...
area
*
Ganzuke (
Saga
Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia.
The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...
)
* Karashi
Mentaiko (
Fukuoka
is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...
)
*
Karashi Renkon (
Kumamoto
is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2.
had a populat ...
)
*
Karasumi (
Nagasaki
, officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...
)
*
Okyuto (
Fukuoka
is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...
)
Okinawa
most commonly refers to:
* Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture
* Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture
* Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself
* Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...
area
* Tofuyo
*
Umibudo – A type of edible seaweed with tiny seeds that hang from its stems
See also
*
Acquired taste
An acquired taste is an appreciation for something unlikely to be enjoyed by a person who has not had substantial exposure to it. It is the opposite of innate taste, which is the appreciation for things that are enjoyable by most people without p ...
References
{{Japanese food and drink
Japanese cuisine
Roe