03/12/2016

Shopping For Local Awaji Flavors

Tempting souvenirs at Higashiura Terminal Road Station

Por Cathy Cawood

Community writer

Sable cookies decorated with Hyogo Prefecture motifs

These wide, flat noodles are Pera-pera (flimsy) Udon

I'm not sure if these are rice crackers or dried eel

Wakame (seaweed) noodles - udon and soba

These sweet potatoes look better than the ones in Tokyo!

I love checking out the souvenirs and local produce on sale at Road stations, and the Higashiura Road Station was no exception. There was an abundance of flavors from the sea, like anago (conger eel) wakame (seaweed) and octopus. Awaji Island is famous for its sweet white onions, and there were lots of onion flavored items available too. The most appealing thing I saw was the stall serving long squid tentacled dredged in batter and flattened between two sizzling hotplates until they were toasted golden brown. Unfortunately there was a huge crowd around that stall, and I couldn't get a good photo.