This restaurant serves Fukagawa-meshi two ways: bukkake (pour-over), where you drench the rice with a clam and green onion broth that’s made with a well-balanced blend of Kanto and Shinshu miso, and takikomi, where the rice is seasoned with dashi and soy sauce.
A small fishing town in Eastern Tokyo, Fukagawa flourished in the Edo period (1603-1868), thanks largely to the abundance of high quality asari (short-neck clams) and oysters found in local waters. Back then, the fisherman staple was bukkake-meshi, a broth of clams, green onions and tofu poured over cold rice.
As clams were cheap and widely available, this humble dish became popular in the homes of Fukagawa – hence Fukagawa-meshi, meaning the rice meal of Fukagawa. While purists argue that authentic Fukagawa-meshi refers to rice with broth, the term now generally refers to rice cooked with clams.
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