Originally peasant food for long winters, Tohoku food tends to be strong flavoured and salty, and the area is famous for its pickles. In mountain regions you will certainly have a chance to sample sansai-ryÅri å±±èæç, prepared from herbs and plants harvested from the forests and hillsides. Rice from Tohoku is also famous, with Miyagi's sasanishiki ãµãµãã·ã and Akita's Akita-komachi ç§ç°å°çº being the flagship varieties.
Tohoku is an important fruit production area and produces most of Japan's apples Aomori, pears Yamagata, cherries Yamagata and peaches Fukushima. Yonezawa in Yamagata is famed for beef, and beef tongue is a specialty of Sendai. Akita is best known for kiritanpo ããããã½, a hot pot with pounded rice and a chicken stock. Horsemeat is commonly eaten in mountain regions of Iwate.
