Tokyo Fukagawa Meshi
Fukagawa meshi is a bowl of rice topped with clams and Japanese long onions cooked in miso. The name Fukagawa comes from a town in Koto-ku, a ward in eastern Tokyo. During the Edo period (1603-1867), Fukagawa was a prosperous fishing town where many earned a living catching fish and clams, or gathering laver.
The coastal waters around Fukagawa were once abundant in asari—Japanese littleneck clams—considered the area’s specialty. Fukagawa meshi is as easy to prepare as it is delicious and nutritious, and for the locals, this bowl of asari and rice was a daily treat—a kind of “fast food” for busy fishermen who enjoyed a quick bowl before casting off.
These days there is another type of Fukagawa meshi in which clams are cooked with rice. Both types, however, remain familiar favorites and count among Tokyo’s culinary stars.
