If you have ever had the pleasure of visiting the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka, you probably know about its amazing food that has people from all over the country booking trips there just to stuff themselves silly. Between the rich, pork broth and firm noodles of the famous Hakata Ramen and the spicy delight that is mentaiko (marinated cod and pollack roe), Fukuoka is a place visitors leave having to loosen their belt a few notches.
With so many delicious things to come out of the city, an online poll set out to see which dishes people think are the epitome of the Fukuoka food scene. Click below to see the results and vote on what you think is the best food to come out of Fukuoka!
Japanese website MyNavi Woman conducted the survey earlier this year and polled almost 200 women between the ages of 22 and 34. The survey was a simple question with no limit on the number of answers: “Which foods from Fukuoka make you think ‘this is something that makes you feel like a local?'”
Based on those answers, here are the top nine foods that most define Fukuoka according to these food-loving ladies along with the percentage of them that chose that food.
1. Hakata Ramen, 64.8%
Everyone loves the rich tonkotsu, or pork bone, broth of Hakata Ramen with its thin noodles that are always firm and never overdone. As one of the woman surveyed said, “Who could go to Fukuoka and resist trying at least one bowl of this delicious ramen?!”
▼Totally worth the 14 and-a-half-hour bus ride from Tokyo
2. Spicy Mentaiko, 44.6%
Although spicy, marinated fish eggs may not seem like something to get too excited over, mentaiko from Fukuoka have become incredibly popular all over Japan. Originally a Korean food, chefs in Fukuoka adapted the recipe and made the dish their own. Now it can be found all over Japan and also as flavoring for everything from mayonnaise to potato chips.
▼ The photogenic and delicious spicy mentaiko
3. Nagahama Ramen, 22.8%
If you can’t tell already by two ramen dishes being in the top three, people in Fukuoka really love their noodles. This dish comes from the Nagahama ward where the working class wanted a broth that kept its rich, strong flavor even after a second helping of noodles. Some ramen lovers seem to like it because although it has a rich broth, the smell isn’t as strong.
▼ Good even after a second round of noodles
4. Mizutaki hot-pot, 22.3%
Mizutaki is a type of hot-pot which uses a chicken broth as a base and it filled to the brim with the freshest vegetables. This dish is very popular because of its healthy nature and the addition of collagen, which is supposed to beautify your skin.
▼ Go ahead and have seconds, your skin will thank you
5. One-bite gyoza, 11.9%
These bite-sized gyoza are more defined by their small shape rather than taste. The flavor and filling of these tiny fried dumplings completely depend on the restaurant, but every shop will always serve them with a side of deliciously spicy yuzukosho as a condiment.
▼ Fukuoka gyoza: small in size, big in taste
The rest of the results are as follows:
6. Umegae mochi, 11.4% (a fried rice cake with a sweet bean-paste filling)
7. Kurume ramen, 10.9% (similiar to Hakata Ramen, but with a richer broth that has a stronger pork bone taste)
8. Hakata pork bone curry, 8.3% (Japanese curry infused with the taste of pork bone)
9. Baked curry, 5.2% (curry rice topped with an egg and baked in an oven)
Now that we let this survey have their say, be sure to take our official RocketNews24 Fukuoka Foods poll below to vote on what you think is the epitome of cuisine from that delicious city. And feel free to suggest your own in the comments section below if we missed any!
Take Our PollFeature Image: Wikipedia, Wikipedia, RocketNews24
Source: Ameba