The special agricultural product of Aizu is rice.
The Aizu basin is a very suitable environment for making rice because it has a climate which has a big difference in temperature of a day, nutrients are carried by the rivers that flow from the mountains that surround the basin, and its soils are covered with snow containing minerals during winter.
Furthermore, I hear that more than 180kg of rice could be harvested from1000 square meters in a paddy field at an agricultural experimental station without giving fertilizer for 20 years.
The staple variety of Aizu rice is Koshihikari (コシヒカリ).
In the annual rice tasting test in Japan, Aizu-grown Koshihikari has acquired the third-highest number of special A’s, which is the highest rank, after Koshihikari produced in Uonuma (魚沼), a famous rice brand in Niigata prefecture and produced in Sado island (佐渡島 Sadoga-shima), Niigata.
The souvenir I recommend is Ujisato (氏郷).
It is Koshihikari cultivated in Aizu in a special way, and I hear that the eating quality value is beyond Kosihikari’s in Uonuma.
The grains of Ujisato are large and good taste even if it is cold, in addition, suitable for sushi rice.
Actually, I hear that there are many first-class sushi stores in Tokyo that use the rice,
In addition to those, Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo Marunouchi (ホテルメトロポリタン丸の内 Hoteru metoroporitan marunouchi) in Tokyo and Iyemon Salon Kyoto (伊右衛門サロン京都 Iemon saron kyōto) in Kyoto and other restaurants, etc use it.
By the way, the name, Ujisato, comes from a feudal lord, Ujisato Gamō (蒲生氏郷) who governed Aizu about 1590.
I tried eating Ujisato.
The grain had a good chewiness, moreover, I felt the sweetness in the taste.
It struck me as a real treat.
I would like people who think that rice has no taste to try it.
Rice for souvenirs is sold in some rice shops and souvenir shops in Aizu-Wakamatsu and some rice shops have rare rice that won’t be found at supermarkets.
Anyway, simple dishes are the best for tasting rice!
By the way, I found a nice rice store in Aizu-Wakamatsu.
The store is Yamashiroya (山城屋) and has also special Koshikari named Byakko rice (白虎米 Byakko-mai).
I hear the taste is comparable to Uonuma’s.
They will polish the rice after you buy it, and are happy to sell even from as little as 300g.
The rice can also be good for a souvenir.
Map
Yamashiroya
1-6,Kogaimachi, Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima
If you’re able to make sushi and have such friends, I recommend using those rice I introduced.
You will surely have amazing sushi.
Of course, you can make special rice balls too.