Rishiri Island and Rebun Island are Japan's northernmost remote islands, and local cuisine made with fresh and abundant seafood is a must. Let's eat as much of the local "island food" as we can!

Let's start by introducing the recommended cuisine of Rishiri Island. The seafood is definitely fresh, so you'll want to taste it raw.

It's nice to eat it as sashimi, but I would like to eat it as a seafood bowl. If you put various kinds of seafood on it, it looks gorgeous! If you take a photo of it, you will sigh and want to eat it again every time you look at it.

Atka mackerel is a fish commonly eaten throughout Hokkaido, but is in season from July to September. Fresh, fatty atka mackerel is a specialty of Rebun Island, where it is served chanchan-yaki with a special miso sauce and spring onions. Of course, it is also a tradition to eat chanchan-yaki on Rishiri Island, so if the timing is right for your trip, it's worth giving it a try.

The classic way to eat it is to fillet it and slowly grill it. Enjoying the fatty hokke with rice and miso soup as a set meal will make you feel glad to be Japanese!

Rishiri Island actually has delicious ramen, with some restaurants featured in the Michelin Guide making it a hot topic. Hokkaido is the kingdom of ramen, with Sapporo's miso ramen and Asahikawa and Hakodate also having their own unique ramen cultures. However, the local ramen on Rishiri Island is a little different! They use luxurious Rishiri kelp to make the broth, and top it with seafood... Each ramen specialty shop and restaurant has its own unique originality, so be sure to enjoy it.

Another specialty of Rishiri Island that could be called a local delicacy is tachikama. It is a kamaboko (fish cake) made from walleye pollock milt. It is delicious to eat as is, but it is also popular locally as an ingredient in miso soup or grilled in butter. The texture seems to be different depending on whether it is cooked or not, so it's worth trying different ways to make it.

Well, even if you've enjoyed the local gourmet food, sweets are still a whole other story. How about some of the popular sweets on Rishiri Island? First up, we recommend "Rishiri Pudding," which has been featured on television and in magazines. There are three varieties: maple, sesame, and kumazasa, but the one that really catches your eye is the kumazasa. Kumazasa is a type of bamboo that is commonly found in Hokkaido. The kumazasa mixed into the batter has a subtle fragrance and a gentle, refined sweetness that is sure to please.

Let's introduce another recommended sweet from Rishiri Island. This ice cream is inspired by Mt. Rishiri and is topped with dried sea urchin and kelp salt, and even comes with an edible Rishiri kelp spoon! This is truly a local ice cream! It's sure to leave a big impression as a memento of your trip.

Meanwhile, what kind of gourmet food is recommended on Rebun Island? Like Rishiri Island, the island's bountiful seafood is a must-have. Among them, the island's sea urchins, which can only be caught between June and September, are said to be the finest in all of Japan. Even when eaten raw, they have no unpleasant odor, and when grilled, a fragrant aroma wafts from the shell. No matter how you eat it, it's undeniably delicious...

If you want to enjoy it to your heart's content, you should have a sea urchin bowl! The orange flesh layered over the white rice in the bowl is irresistibly appetizing. Since you're traveling, why not splurge on something extravagant? By the way, on the island, the Ezo Bafun sea urchin is called "ganze" and the Kitamurasaki sea urchin is called "nona". When you eat your sea urchin bowl, why not surprise your travel companions by sharing some trivia about it?

They also serve this unique sea urchin dish. It's a Japanese-style omurice with rice seasoned with burnt soy sauce as the base, but what's on top is a sea urchin butter sauce that uses a generous amount of sea urchin. In Rebun Island, even omurice goes well with sea urchin! This may be the result of the abundant catch.

By the way, soup curry is one of the gourmet dishes that originated in Hokkaido. It is characterized by its generous use of spices and the inclusion of lots of ingredients, and can also be found on Rebun Island. This soup curry is unique to Rebun Island, and uses kelp from the island. The kelp stock adds depth to the curry, and the large vegetables and chicken legs also have a somewhat refined flavor. It might be interesting to compare it with soup curry from other regions.

Just as sea urchin has been transformed into omelet rice, on Rebun Island, Atka mackerel has been transformed into a hamburger! The patty is made with ground chicken and Atka mackerel, and is called the Atka mackerel burger. You may be surprised to find that chicken and Atka mackerel go together, but they are a perfect match. Hold it down with both hands, open your mouth wide, and take a bite.

What did you think? I think that "island food" satisfied both the desire to enjoy simple dishes because the ingredients are fresh, and the desire to enjoy dishes with unique ideas because the ingredients are abundant. And the many wonderful dishes taste even better because of the wonderful environment of the northernmost remote island. Be sure to enjoy the local atmosphere and make the most of the meals on this memorable trip.