Located at the Pacific coast, Chiba is the richest source of seafood around the Tokyo area. Naturally, the place is known for its seafood plates that get people coming back from all over the country. And so, here are the 4 seafoods that you must eat when visiting Chiba.
1. Grilled Hamaguri
“Hamaguri”, also known as oriental clam, is a large shellfish that is enjoyed around Chiba. As is the case for most shellfishes, the juice that flows out from the shell is absolutely phenomenal. We would usually drop some soy sauce or a soy sauce-based soup on the shell that compliments the juice from the hamaguri. Other ways to enjoy the shellfish include soup, cooking it with rice, sometimes in pasta as well.
2. Ise-Ebi Lobster
Ise-Ebi is a type of lobster peculiar to Japan. It gets its name from the Ise region which is located in Mie prefecture, but Chiba is known to be the best place to catch Ise-Ebi.
Ise-Ebi is considered to be a luxury food that not many people outside of Chiba can eat, but locals enjoy the delicacy for an unbelievably low price.
Just like lobsters, Ise-Ebi can be grilled, boiled, roasted, or complemented with other ingredients as well. The locals often keep it simple by grilling it and squeezing some lemon on it.
3. Sea Urchin
Another luxury seafood is the sea urchin. Sea urchin, or “uni” as we call it in Japan, is a small and spiny animal found undersea. It is eaten in several other countries like Italy or some Pacific islands, but the Japanese are deeply in love with this unorthodox delicacy. It is one of the most popular ingredients of sushi, but if you want to enjoy the rich aroma of the uni, you have to try it as a bowl, or “uni-don”. Pour some soy sauce on it, and you’ll be able to enjoy the creamy texture of the sea urchin melting in your mouth.
4. Tuna
And of course, the kind of Japanese seafood is the tuna, or “maguro”. There are a couple of ports famous for catching tuna such as Oma and Misaki, but Katuura in Chiba is also a great place to catch tuna. When thinking of tuna, you might immediately imagine sushi, but we recommend you try “tekka-don (tuna bowl)” or “zuke-don (marinated tuna bowl)”. Especially if you haven’t had raw fish before, you might want to start out with the zuke-don which has more flavor added to it.
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