Last Updated on February 9, 2024
Market days in Tokyo
Tokyo is known for its street food so on a recent visit to this fascinating city, I hoped to eat my way around one of the renowned markets as well as exploring those I happened upon while sightseeing. Perhaps the most famous market in Tokyo is the Tsukiji Outer Market. Some years ago the legendary fish market, with the 4.30am fish auction, relocated to Toyosu. Fortunately, the Tsukiji Outer Market remains and is hugely popular with tourists and locals alike. I wasn’t sure quite what to expect when I visited and can compare it best to the packed environment of Borough Market in London on a Saturday. There is a map available which is handy as the market is an area of narrow streets on which there is a great deal to explore – specialist knife shops, purveyors of green tea, herbs, fruits and vegetables that were completely new to me, every kind of skewer from wagyu beef to fruit.
I was in search of breakfast and began with what is common to many cultures – eggs. In Japan the egg breakfast often takes the form of a rolled omelette called a tamagoyaki. Since Tiktok became the rage, queues tend to form outside stalls that have received millions of view online. I tend to avoid these places because life is too short to queue for an hour for a skewer.
In search of my omelette, I headed for the queue-free Tsukiji Shouro where I met the elderly couple who run the stall. So popular are their tamogoyaki they use 20 000 eggs per day, a figure I find difficult to even imagine. This is a family business, dating back a century. Before WWll they made sushi, but post-war food shortages put an end to that and they began making omelettes. Visitors to Japan will know that a Japanese omelette is rolled, a different affair to those in France or the UK. There is a special rectangular tin in which they are made and watching the process was mesmerising. The previous generation in the family business had developed the production line method of preparation which I was fortunate to witness. Omelette in Japan is in fact often served as part of a sushi set – that slightly sweet, slightly salty egg slice that tasted so good with sushi rice – or on a skewer.
Leaving my husband in a queue for the second course of our breakfast – we were getting the hang of the standing-in-line tradition in Japan – I went off to explore the surrounding streets. I was very fortunate to have been assigned a wonderful translator and fixer by the Tokyo Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Junko Takahashi was the most engaging person with whom to explore Tokyo and with her help, I was not only able to navigate Tsukiji market but also to ask questions of stall owners whose goods we stopped to explore. I discovered many fruits and vegetables that I did not recognise and cured items I could not begin to place, such as whale bacon. I ogled at the largest crabs I have ever seen – one could buy portions of cooked crab legs big enough to feed a family. Returning to the queue at 10 am – opening time for many businesses in Japan – we were almost first through the door at Seagen. This is a company that distributes top-grade tuna to many high-end restaurants in Tokyo and beyond. The cost of eating in some of these restaurants will put a dent in your wallet. Eating at the market was not cheap but is excellent value and the fish could not be any fresher. I ordered a donburi (rice bowl) topped with fatty tuna which is the most sought-after cut. It was a generous portion and was very tender. Junko and my husband ordered donburi with marinated tuna sashimi which was utterly delicious. If you think you would not enjoy eating fish for breakfast, come to Tokyo where this standard of outstanding fish will convert you in no time. After a few weeks of travel, I looked forward to breakfast of fish, rice, Japanese pickles and miso soup. And when there was a slice of Japanese omelette too, I was replete.
For those with a sweet tooth, Tokyo markets are bursting with stalls selling pastries both traditional and European in influence. I was intrigued by the variety of wagashi, traditional Japanese confectionary, which often are themed according to the season. Being fortunate to time the trip with Sakura season – the cherry blossom season for which Japan is so famous – I expected to see some Sakura-themed treats. I had no idea of the scale that this assumes in Japan. No item is too inconsequential to escape cherry blossom theming, even down to the loo roll in our hotel. On the culinary front, there was no end to the wagashi served with cherry blossom leaves and flowers. These are brined so that they have a salty flavour which contrasts well with the sweet taste of the fillings. One of my favourites was a mochi (rice cake) enveloped in a cherry blossom leaf which we found all over Tokyo.
Being early Spring, strawberries were in season too and I have never seen such long queues of youths, waiting patiently for their turn to buy three glazed strawberries on a skewer and then upload the image onto TikTok. Not having the patience to queue for such meagre returns, I chose instead the immediate gratification of a strawberry daifuku which is a traditional confection that is quite delicious.
In fact, gratification is not exactly instant as eating in the street is frowned upon in Japan. I carried the daifuku around for a few hours before having a rest in a park and enjoying an impromptu mini-hanami (a cherry blossom party) under the trees. Here at last I could enjoy a melon pan – another local treat which looks like the back of a tortoise and tastes faintly of melon – and the strawberry daifuku. A daifuku is a glutinous rice cake (a mochi) that is pounded into a paste and often filled with anko – sweetened red bean paste.
One can literally eat all day from street food markets in Tokyo. Often these are situated conveniently alongside major tourist sights. One of the most famous temples in Tokyo is the Senso-ji Temple, also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple. It is the oldest in Tokyo and draws enormous crowds. Walking up towards it one passes through Nakamise-dori, a street of stalls dating back to the 17th century where generations-old family businesses sell the most wonderful food. My absolute favourite – one of the most delicious street food items I ate in Tokyo – was made from Japanese sweet potato. Oimoyasan Koushin opened in 1876 as a specialist in sweet potato snacks. I tried two memorable items. The first was caramelised sweet potato which one buys by the bag full. Oh my! As if sweet potato is not sweet enough simply cooked, here it was elevated to another level by being doused in syrup. Fabulous. Even better, for my taste, was a soufflé-like affair, shaped like a quenelle, which was so light and buttery that I made sure that two weeks later I returned to the stall to buy some more. I had been fantasising about it for days, that’s how good it was.
I bought small jars of spices to add to rice and tiny vials of yuzu salt which I will enjoy using to bring back the tastes of Japan now that I am home in my own kitchen. You could easily fill your suitcase with well-packaged food for presents or your own collection. Look out for the Yuzu stall selling everything you can imagine made with this Japanese citrus fruit. Rice crackers of every description can be enjoyed in Tokyo. One stall I returned to several times when in Nakamise-dori was Kiyosumi. A relatively recently opened business, this stall sells rice crackers mixed with nuts and a variety of spices. Talk about moreish – having tasted some of the samples they generously gave out, I returned to buy gifts for friends back home and am ashamed to admit that they were so utterly moreish that I gave away very few on my return home. A last stop before waddling off to see some sights was one of many stalls making fresh ningyo-yaki – tiny sponge cakes in the shape of fish, filled with red bean paste. This confection originated in Tokyo and some of the stalls even make these is the shape of famous Tokyo landmarks. If you enjoy browsing around street food markets, Tokyo will keep you busy for days and very full indeed.
This is a three-part feature – you’ll find my first feature on eating in Tokyo covering izakaya, cafes and bars here and my second feature where I visit an oden restaurant and try okonomiyaki here
