Chinmi

Chinmi (珍味) is a Japanese term meaning literally "rare taste", but more appropriately "delicacy". They are local cuisines that have fallen out of popularity or that are peculiar to a certain area. Many involve pickled seafood.

Chinmi: Salt-pickled mullet roe (karasumi)

List of chinmi

Hokkaidō area

• Hizunamasu
• Ikanankotsu – Cooked soft bones of squid
• Kankai – Dried Komai fish. It may be eaten as is, or broiled and eaten with a sauce made by mixing mayonnaise 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
• 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. The dried seeds of the hosagi plant.

Kanto area

• Ankimo – Either fresh or steamed liver of an Anko fish
• Kusaya – 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 area

• Daitokuji Natto
• Funazushi
• Kinzanji Miso

Chūgoku area

• Hiroshimana

Shikoku area

• Chorogi
• Katsuo no Heso
• Shuto
• Dorome

Kyūshū area

• Ganzuke (Saga)
• Karashi Mentaiko (Fukuoka)
• Karashi Renkon (Kumamoto)
• Karasumi (Nagasaki)
• Okyuto (Fukuoka)

Okinawa area

• Tofuyo
• Umibudo – A type of edible seaweed with tiny seeds that hang from its stems

See also

• Acquired taste