Kyoto in Photos: Nishiki Food Market

Part 8 of 9

Place: Nishiki Food Market

Location: Near the city center. Nishiki Market runs parallel to Shijo Dori, one block to the north. Nishiki's eastern end is perpendicular to Teramachi Shopping Arcade, also worth a visit. Take the subway to Shijo for easiest access.

Essential Information: Nishiki is a huge food market in the center of Kyoto. Just about any food item can be found here, from raw fish, to bean curd, Kyoto style pickled veg, grilled meats & fish, fruit, sweets, etc. Its location makes it the ideal place to stop for lunch while out sightseeing. The history of the market extends back some 400 years, with many shops still owned and operated by their founding families.

My Take: I absolutely loved this place! All imaginable manner of edible items are on full display, some already prepared, and some for bringing home to cook with. Honestly, Nishiki was fairly overwhelming, considering I had budgeted only enough time to stop in and grab a bite to eat. I was manic as I ran from shop to shop, taking in the sights and smells, trying to choose something to have for lunch, not wanting to miss a single thing. Looking at my photos afterwards, I was disappointed that I wasn't able to capture the essence of the market as well as I would have liked. I took too many closeups and not enough wide angle shots (well, not any, really :( ). I was like my 2-year old on Christmas, running from booth to booth, pausing just long enough to gorge my eyes and catch my breath before darting off to the next shop. I mean seriously, this place is several city blocks long (about a quarter of a mile!). How can anyone hope to take it all in in such a short time?

One of many shops offering both raw materials (I believe fish, in this case) and prepared foods. This one in particular had the luxury of a seating area, which was pretty rare in the market area.

Although these look and feel like wood, they are actually blocks of katsuobushi, or fermented dried bonito (skipjack tuna) fish. This was the first time I had seen dried bonito in its whole form.

The blocks of katsuobushi are shaved into micro-thin flakes (looks kind of like fish food) which are then used, typically with dried konbu (a type of seaweed) to make dashi soup stock - a basic building block of Japanese cuisine.

The quality and variety of fresh sea creatures available was astounding. I liked the propensity of the fishmongers to splay the fish open, like these great looking eels.

Of course, in my euphoric stupor, I took two photos of eels, neglecting scores of other items I could have snapped. But hey, eels are underused, in my opinion, and are quite tasty.

I did manage to capture these beautiful squid though...

Lots and lots of fish, grilled on skewers

Loose tea for sale

Chestnuts, fresh off the tree and still in their cupules

Kyoto is known for its variety of vegetable pickles. The ones here are preserved with salt and miso.

These are pickles too, but look quite different. Whole cucumbers are packed in a much wetter miso paste in this type.

With this huge array of choices, I picked teriyaki chicken??? I was starving, as you can tell by the bite mark I made before taking this picture. And this semi-boneless chicken leg was seriously off the hook good. And cheap too.