Hoto (Yamanashi-wide)

A local dish that can be eaten anywhere in the prefecture, hoto is the most popular dish among local Yamanashi cuisine. Hoto consists of wide noodles freshly made from kneaded flour, seasonal vegetables (pumpkin, mushrooms, potatoes, greens etc) and meat cooked in a miso-flavored soup.

Said to be favored as a food for the battlefront in 16th century by warlord Shingen Takeda, hoto is a nutritiously balanced, satisfying dish.

Fuji-mabushi (Fujikawaguchiko-machi)

Fuji-mabushi is receiving much attention as a new delicacy of the Fujikawaguchiko-machi region. It is a dish of rice cooked with quality sockeye salmon or rainbow trout from Lake Sai.

There are three ways to enjoy Fuji-mabushi; eat as it is served, eat with some spices added or add soup and eat it with Ochazuke-style (Ochazuke is rice with green tea poured on it).

Venison Curry (Fujikawaguchiko-machi)

Agri-farms in Fujikawaguchiko-machi have been experiencing damage to their crops from wild deer, particularly in the Lake Motosu and Lake Shoji areas. Instead of just culling them, venison is offered as a healthy ingredient of meals as it has high-protein and low-calorie.

Kofu Chicken Entrails Stew (Kofu City)

Soon after World War II, in around 1950, the owner of one of the Soba noodle restaurants in Kofu city realized how waste it is to throw away chicken entrails and came up with this idea of new dish after considering how he can utilize this chicken entrails turns into cheap, tasty meal. It is now wide-spread around Japan.

The stew is made by broiling fresh chicken entrails for a short time in a Teriyaki sauce cooked with superfine white sugar and soy sauce as a base. With the unique textures of gizzard, heart, liver and unborn egg, The stew is a staple menu of soba restaurants.

Yoshida Udon (Fujiyoshida City)

This Yoshida Udon noodle specialty was born out of the Gunnai area, especially Fujiyoshida-City and has been a popular dish in the area as well as hoto for a long time. The thick springy noodles are made with pure water from Fujihokuroku and topped with ingredients such as boiled cabbage and horsemeat cooked with salty-sweet sauce. The dish can especially be enjoyed with seasoning of “Suridane” spice made from chili.

Many of these udon noodle restaurants have the unique settings; serving meals in their own living room for customers in a day time only, where they can enjoy a casual and reasonable meal.

Otsuki Otsukedango (Otsuki Soup Dumpling) (Otsuki City)

Much-loved in the Otsuki area, this meal is that fresh local vegetables and dumplings which are made by flour with water served in Miso-soup. The standard flavor for this meal is miso, but there are also many other varieties such as soy sauce, salt or curry.

There are a couple of stories where its name came from, the dialect of the region saying “Otsuke-dango” instead of “Otsuki-dango” or the fact that miso-shiru (miso soup) is known as “Omiotsuke” therefore “Dango in Otsuke” which eventually changed into “otsuke-dango”.