People eat “sea bream” (tai meshi) in Imabari City (Toyo) and Matsuyama City Hojo (Nakayo). This local dish cooks a whole sea bream in a clay pot or kettle. “Tai meshi” in Uwajima City (Nanyo) is a fisherman’s dish where people dip sea bream sashimi in a special sauce and mix it with condiments before eating it over rice. Today, we are going to talk about Uwajima taimeshi and will also introduce two different “sea bream” styles.
WHAT IS UWAJIMA TAIMESHI?
Uwajima Taimeshi is a traditional food in Japan where you put sashimi of sea bream soaked in a sauce containing raw eggs on top of warm rice. It’s surprisingly simple, yet there’s something deeply satisfying about how these few ingredients come together. Taimeshi, or sea bream rice, is a combination of sea bream and rice that has been a representative Japanese cuisine since ancient times. You can find this dish all over the country, though the style varies quite a bit depending on where you are.
Taimeshi is known as one of the local dishes of Ehime prefecture, but people can roughly divide it into two types depending on the region. Taimeshi in the Chuyo-Toyo region centered on Matsuyama city is Matsuyama Taimeshi, which is made by boiling roasted sea bream with kelp soup stock. On the other hand, Taimeshi in the Nanyo region centered on Uwajima City is Uwajima Taimeshi. We’ll focus on this Uwajima style here, since it offers a completely different experience from its cooked counterpart.
What Makes Uwajima Taimeshi Unique
The raw preparation is what sets Uwajima Taimeshi apart. You might be wondering if eating raw fish with raw egg is safe. In Japan, the freshness standards for seafood are incredibly high, especially for dishes like this that rely on raw ingredients. The sea bream used is always extremely fresh, often caught the same day.
The sauce itself is crucial to the dish. It typically contains soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sometimes a touch of sesame or citrus. When you crack a raw egg into this sauce and mix it with the sliced sea bream, something interesting happens. The egg coats each piece of fish, creating this silky, rich texture that clings to the rice beautifully.
The Taste Experience
The flavor profile is delicate yet surprisingly complex. Sea bream has a mild, slightly sweet taste with a clean finish that doesn’t overwhelm your palate. It’s not as rich or oily as salmon, which actually works in the dish’s favor. The raw egg adds a creamy richness without being heavy, while the soy-based sauce provides just enough saltiness and umami to tie everything together.
When you mix it all with warm rice, the heat from the rice slightly changes the texture of the egg and fish. Not enough to cook them, but enough to warm them slightly and release more of their flavors. Some people prefer to let it sit for a moment before eating, while others dive right in. Both approaches give you different experiences.
The sesame seeds (if included in the sauce) add little bursts of nutty flavor and a subtle crunch. You might also taste hints of green onion or shiso leaves if the restaurant includes them as garnish. These aromatic touches brighten up the dish without competing with the main ingredients.
Texture and How to Eat It
The texture is what really makes this dish memorable. The sea bream sashimi is firm yet tender, with that characteristic springiness that fresh fish has. When coated in the egg sauce, it becomes slippery in the best possible way. It glides across your tongue with this luxurious, almost silky quality.
The warm rice provides a soft, slightly sticky base that contrasts beautifully with the cool, slick fish. As you eat, you’ll notice how the egg sauce seeps into the rice, enriching each grain. Some bites will have more fish, others more rice, and the ratio keeps changing as you work through the bowl.
Here’s something locals tend to do: they mix everything together thoroughly before eating, ensuring every spoonful has that perfect balance of rice, fish, egg, and sauce. Others prefer a more gradual approach, adding small amounts of the fish mixture to their rice bit by bit. There’s no right way, really. It depends on whether you want consistent flavor throughout or prefer the experience to evolve as you eat.
The Cultural Context
Uwajima has been a fishing town for centuries, so this style of preparation makes sense given the access to incredibly fresh seafood. The raw egg tradition likely comes from the protein being readily available and the desire to make the dish more substantial and satisfying. Fishermen needed energy, after all.
You might compare it to other raw fish dishes like chirashi or poke, but Uwajima Taimeshi has its own identity. The egg sauce makes it creamier and richer than typical sashimi preparations. It’s also less about showcasing knife skills or presentation and more about creating comfort food that happens to be incredibly flavorful.
What to Expect When Trying It
If you’re new to raw fish or raw eggs, this dish might seem intimidating at first. The appearance is quite different from what many people expect from a rice bowl. It looks almost too simple, maybe even plain. But that simplicity is deceptive.
The first bite often surprises people. The combination of textures and the way the flavors develop as you chew is unlike other dishes. Some find the raw egg coating takes a moment to get used to, while others love it immediately. The temperature contrast between the warm rice and cool topping adds another dimension that cooked versions just can’t replicate.
Variations You Might Find
While the traditional version sticks to sea bream, egg, and the basic sauce, some restaurants offer slight variations. You might find versions with added yuzu for citrus brightness, or extra garnishes like nori or pickled vegetables on the side. The sauce recipe can vary too. Some places make theirs sweeter, others more savory.
ORIGIN OF UWAJIMA TAIMESHI
In Ehime prefecture, which is near the Seto Inland Sea, the fishing industry of them is thriving due to the nature of the land facing the sea, and there are many local dishes using seafood. One of these dishes is what they called Taimeshi. There are two types of Taimeshi depending on the region and these two also have their special taste.
Taimeshi is also called Kaizokumeshi (pirates’ food) or ryoushi meshi (fishermen’s food) and was originated by a pirate, based in Hiburi Island in Uwa Sea, who ate shoyu-marinated snapper and rice on a bowl after having booze on board without using fire. It is said that the Iyo Suigun (Marines) between the Period of Northern and Southern Dynasties often had this dish as well.
Hyugameshi
In the same region, during the 1960s, people often described it as Hyugameshi, but eventually, they unified it into the name Taimeshi. People also ate this Hyugameshi with seasoned sashimi on rice, and “hyugameshi” was the name for the sea bream version. Originally families handed down this home-cooked dish in a part of Uwajima City, but in the 1950s, a restaurant called “Rokuho” appeared in Tsushima Town (currently Uwajima City) at that time and some other areas. After that, it spread to prefectures other than Uwajima, such as Matsuyama, and eventually became a specialty of the Nanyo region.
In 2007, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries selected Uwajima Taimeshi as one of the 100 Best Local Cuisine, bearing the place name of “Uwajima”. Cooperatives that local restaurants created have registered regional collective trademarks. In 2009, Matsuyama City used the name Live Taimeshi and introduced Taimeshi as a local dish of Matsuyama City, but now people recognize Uwajima as the birthplace.
HOW IS UWAJIMA TAIMESHI MADE?
Process of Making Uwajima Taimeshi
Taimeshi refers to the whole sea bream cooked in rice. Compared to the taimeshi in Chuyo and Touyo which cooks rice and snapper together, Uwajima Taimeshi places marinated fresh raw Tai (snapper) and sauce on top of hot rice. Chefs pre-bake the snapper to remove the odor and give it a savory flavor. They use soy sauce, salt, sake, mirin, and kelp stock to season the cooked rice. Cooks often use earthenware pots to cook rice. When it finishes cooking, we recommend removing the bones from the meat and setting it aside first to get good quality meat. The condiments include tree buds and needle ginger. It is also delicious as a sea bream chazuke with hot tea.
Uwajima Taimeshi was mainly composed of soy sauce to raw eggs, sesame seeds, chopped green onions. Also, there are some examples of rice with seasoned sea bream soboro and rice with sashimi of sea bream.
The Uniqueness of Uwajima Taimeshi
Why People Ate Uwajima Taimeshi
People ate Uwajima Taimeshi because of the red sea bream itself. This fish is the main ingredient of the dish. Natural red sea bream was very difficult to obtain. People could not purchase it unless fishermen caught it that same day. The taimeshi or sea bream must be fresh. This allows people to fully enjoy its firm texture. The chewiness makes it special. Adding eggs and soy sauce enhances the sea bream’s umami. The rice from the prefecture completes the flavor. No one wants to miss this taste.
Historical Origins
Uwajima taimeshi originated as food eaten by sailors aboard Iyo Navy ships. These ships could not use open flames. The pirates would party atop ships, eating sashimi and drinking sake from rice bowls. They placed rice in bowls that still contained sake. They mixed it with sashimi soaked in ample soy sauce. The dish required minimal prep time yet brought out ingredient deliciousness. This fishermen’s dish became a beloved local specialty.
Cultural Significance
Japanese people often eat this dish in celebration such as New Year’s Eve. They believe it brings good luck. Ehime Prefecture boasts the highest production of sea bream in Japan. The Uwa Sea has a ria coast with complex inlets. Sea bream farming thrives in this region. The fresh, firm quality makes raw preparation possible.
RECOMMENDED UWAJIMA TAIMESHI RESTAURANTS
Speaking of Uwajima Taimeshi, many restaurants in Ehime prefecture cater to the two types of Taimeshi and nobody wants to miss trying them. Here are some of those restaurants that entrepreneurs established for the public’s interests.
Marusui
It is a famous store in Uwajima City and is believed to be the birthplace of Uwajima Taimeshi. The store serves fresh sea bream sashimi and sauce with raw eggs. Wheat miso soup is also included in the menu which is also a Nanyo’s specialty. The store also serves free refills of rice. Instructions on how to eat are also on the table. A customer can choose either natural red sea bream caught by single fishing instead of the fixed net or winding net or farmed red sea bream Taiichiro Kun. The two look the same in appearance but the sea bream Taiichiro Kun is chewy and delicious without any odor while the natural red sea bream is crispy and has a more crunchy texture.
Hodzumitei
The store is spacious, it can accommodate about 200 seats including the 8 seats at the counter. The sea bream rice menu is delicious wherein the sea bream is fresh and customers can enjoy its firm and elastic texture. The flavors of raw eggs and seaweed are intertwined, and the soy sauce enhances the taste even more. Homemade karasumi is also recommended when one visits this shop to eat. Since it is homemade, the salt condition is mild and you can enjoy the original taste of karasumi.
Tomiya
This shop is a 3-minutes walk from Uwajima station. Customers with children can visit this shop because it offers various types of seats such as counters, tables, and tatami rooms. Tomiya’s taimeshi set meal is a gorgeous set meal with simmered dishes and desserts. Customers usually eat it with sashimi. The taimeshi fillet has a slight sweetness but tastes delicious. People say the taimeshi has a crispy and elastic texture. The more you chew, the more the taste of the taimeshi spreads in your mouth.
Seafood Izakaya Gaiya Uwashima
The shop has a vibrant interior that a customer can feel as soon as they enter the shop. Customers can enjoy not only sardines, but also Uwajima’s local dishes, single dishes, and drinks so it is recommended for people who want to eat a variety of dishes. There is a large parking lot in front of the store, so a customer can go by car. The shop is usually full of customers who would like to enjoy the full course of seafood. There are various types of seats such as counters, semi-private rooms, and tatami rooms.
Wabisuke
The taimeshi rice set at this restaurant also has Jakoten, a specialty of Uwajima. The crispy taimeshi sashimi looks great in appearance because it is beautifully sliced. There is plenty of rice in it, so a customer can fill their stomachs full and will be satisfied with the menu. The interior of the store creates a neat and modern atmosphere while giving a feeling of Japanese style. It is also has a waterfall set up in front of the counter seats while you enjoy your food, you can listen to the clear sound of water and it would feel more delicious than usual.
FAQ
What is Uwajima Taimeshi?
Uwajima Taimeshi is a traditional dish from Ehime’s Uwajima region. The dish features fresh sea bream sashimi, a special soy-based sauce, and hot rice.
How do people eat Uwajima Taimeshi?
Diners mix sea bream sashimi, sauce, raw egg, and condiments with hot rice for a flavorful bowl.
What makes Uwajima Taimeshi unique?
The dish uses raw sea bream instead of cooked fish, which gives it a fresh and delicate taste.
Is the sea bream always fresh?
Restaurants in Uwajima source sea bream directly from nearby waters, so the dish uses extremely fresh fish.
Does the dish contain raw egg?
Yes, the sauce often includes raw egg to create a rich and smooth texture when mixed with rice.
Is Uwajima Taimeshi safe for visitors who avoid raw food?
Travelers who avoid raw seafood can request grilled or lightly cooked sea bream at some restaurants.
What ingredients come with the dish?
The dish usually includes sea bream sashimi, rice, raw egg, soy-based sauce, sesame seeds, seaweed, and green onions.
Where can I try authentic Uwajima Taimeshi?
You can enjoy authentic Uwajima Taimeshi at local restaurants in Uwajima City and throughout southern Ehime Prefecture.
Does the dish taste fishy?
The dish offers a clean and mild flavor because chefs use exceptionally fresh sea bream.
Can I find Uwajima Taimeshi outside Japan?
Some Japanese restaurants overseas serve similar dishes, but authentic Uwajima Taimeshi is mainly available in Ehime.
Is Uwajima Taimeshi different from standard Taimeshi?
Yes. Standard Taimeshi cooks sea bream with rice, while Uwajima Taimeshi features raw sashimi mixed with rice and sauce.
What time of year is best for sea bream?
Winter and early spring offer peak flavor, but restaurants in Uwajima serve high-quality sea bream throughout the year.
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