日本三大秘境のまち

The Iya-no-Kazurabashi Vine Bridge is probably the most famed sight in Tokushima’s Miyoshi City, and several shops and restaurants in its vicinity cater to visitors the bridge attracts. But there are also places nearby where locals gather together, not just tourists, and in this article we introduce a small “izakaya” (“pub”) that is popular with the younger crowd of residents.

Where Locals Unwind

It was now starting to get a bit dark outside and the first couple customers of the evening appeared. Mostly of the younger generation (which in Iya means being under about 50), they had just finished their jobs for the day and came in, as usual, to have a bite to eat and chat with each other. 

We were brought out a few plates of side dishes which, like with most izakayas in Japan, are usually provided as service when ordering drinks.

Using Local Ingredients

The meals at Onomiya always focus on utilizing seasonal ingredients, so what’s on the menu isn’t necessarily available all year. For today, I was told that “oden”, salad, and some deep-fried offerings were readily on hand, and since I was pretty hungry, I ordered a range of everything.

It was also possible to order full set meals at Onomiya, but many of the regular customers tend to just get a variety of side-dishes instead, which is the common way people order whenever going to any izakaya in Japan.

Enjoying the “Oden” of Iya 

For those unfamiliar with this traditional Japanese dish, “oden” is large pieces of slowly cooked vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, as well as fish and/or meat that are stewed in a soy sauce based broth. Mrs. Okura had spent all afternoon simmering it in the kitchen.

Among the vegetables in Onomiya’s oden were locally grown “daikon” radish, some of Iya’s small dense potatoes, and thick cubes of Iya’s “stone tofu” that is much more solid than typical tofu.

Due to being cooked for hours, everything was soft and full of rich flavor.

The fresh salad was brought out next together with the set meal of the day, which consisted of some crispy deep fried shrimp, vegetable side dishes, pickles, soup, and rice.

Thankfully I was pretty hungry because the amount of food laid out before me was quite a lot.

Home-made Local Delights

The menu offerings at Onomiya are pretty on par with one may expect at such an izakaya, and rounds of plates were ordered and brought out for both myself and the others seated around me.

One special for today was a local treat called “imo-no miso-itame” (stir-fried potatoes in miso paste).  The Iya Valley is renowned for its small and particularly dense potatoes, which grow this way due to the rough rocky soil on the hillside farms.

For this dish, the tiny potatoes are first boiled and peeled, then as the name suggests, they are stir-fried together with some miso paste. Though it sounds simple, it is pretty time consuming to prepare since the potatoes are so small and tricky to peel, but the results are worth it.

And since the Iya potatoes don’t readily mush apart due to their compact stiffness, the resulting combination of the fragrantly sweet miso paste together with the deep tasting potatoes is addictively satisfying.

In Part 3 I have some chats with the local people here tonight at Onomiya.

For info on Kazurabashi Taxi*, check their website (in English)

https://kazurabashi-taxi-en.jimdofree.com/

*if looking to utilize the taxi service, prior reservations are necessary.

(Text & Photos by: Shaun Lamzy)