Awaji Island Octopus: A Variety of Delights
The Sankei Shimbun newspaper on Saturday, March 9 featured "Island Octopus Tataki Chahan"!
The Onaruto Bridge, which connects Awaji Island and Shikoku, can be seen below. The sightseeing facility "Uzu no Oka Onaruto Bridge Memorial Hall" (Fukura Hei, Minami-Awaji City) stands on a mountain overlooking the Naruto Straits. The Uzu no Oka Restaurant is located within the facility. The facility and restaurant opened in 1985, the same year the bridge opened to traffic. When a video of the dish was posted on SNS, the number of views, including related videos, reached approximately 14 million. The dish is growing as a new specialty, with some visitors coming to Awaji Island just for this dish. Sitting on the plate is a fresh octopus that has been grilled. A whole octopus from Awaji Island is used. First, the octopus is cut into bite-size pieces using scissors. The octopus may give the impression of being tough, but it does not give the slightest impression of being tough. The appeal of this dish is that you can enjoy a variety of flavors at the same time. The prepared Awaji Island lemon and horseradish enhances the flavor of the ingredients with its refreshing acidity and spiciness. The special sauce made from soy sauce produced on the island is also very flavorful. The dish is finished off with chazuke, a hot chazuke with hot broth. Kazuhito Mori, 45, head chef and creator of the dish, says, "I came up with the idea of creating a new specialty of Awaji Island using the same ingredients we currently use. The popularity of the dish has also been boosted by the restaurant's publicity activities using social networking services. When the restaurant posted a video of a taco tasting on its official Instagram page, its popularity soared. In November of last year, the restaurant received over 1,000 orders per month, catapulting it to the top of the popularity list. The "Big! Chahan," which uses a larger octopus, and other videos have been viewed a total of approximately 14 million times. Some visitors have come to the museum in search of such a delicacy, and have commented, "It's so big," and "I'm glad there are so many different ways to eat it. The memorial center is now crowded with tourists even on weekdays, but about 15 years ago, "there were days when the parking lot, which could hold 150 cars, was completely empty," said Yuji Miyaji, 38, managing director of Uzunokuni Minami-Awaji, the management company. This was due to the company's reliance on group customers, which had continued since the opening of the hotel. In order to overcome this problem, the company decided to "promote the island's specialties more prominently and offer higher quality food in order to attract individual customers. The change in policy has been successful, and now tataki chahan is playing a role as a booster of popularity as the business continues to grow. I am surprised that it has become so popular, but I would like to come up with a hit product to follow it," says Mori. Aiming for a further leap forward, the challenge continues.
Dear Editorial Staff
Thank you very much for introducing us in your wonderful magazine!
