Yatai Foods: Savory Treats on a Stick

Japan has many different festivals - matsuri - throughout the year and no festival is complete without food from yatai food stalls （屋台）. Yatai sell sweet and savory foods and a lot of that is food on a stick.

Ayu - あゆ: This small fish is very popular in Japan and is served both grilled on a stick at yatai and as part of very elaborate and classy meals. It is supposed to be best when it looks like it is still swimming.

Ika-yaki - イカ焼き: This is grilled or fried squid. Here it is served on a stick, but you can sometimes also find it cut open and grilled flat. It is delicious in any form.

Frankfurt - フランクフルト: The German city's name here just means sausage, but I think the German name is all that is left from the original recipe. Why the sausage is often cut open I don't know.

Nikumaki-mochimochibo - 肉巻きもちもち棒: Sticky rice is called mochi rice like the mochi rice cakes it is used to make. Here it is wrapped in slices of pork belly, brushed with sauce and grilled. Very tasty and very filling.

When you hear about a festival at a shrine or temple, please go and go hungry so that you can have fun trying all the delicious yatai foods.