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From Iwate (岩手県) we moved on to the next prefecture, Aomori (青森県). On the northern end of Honshu (Japan’s mainland) surrounded by the sea on three sides, Aomori is a major producer of seafood. While the food was a bit disappointing yesterday, today we’d have a big seafood barbecue!
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Breakfast at the Morioka City Hotel. Just as a contrast to the one at Sendai. But then, Morioka is a smaller city and the hotel is a stone’s throw from the train station. You can only get so much given the price.
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The Northeast Shinkansen (東北新幹線) line goes from Tokyo all the way to Aomori City. We hopped on for a half hour ride from Morioka and getting off at Hachinohe (八戸) in Aomori prefecture. From Hachinohe station there’s a bus service going to the Hasshoku Centre (八食センター) – the seafood market – in 10 minutes.
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This is the restaurant area. How it works – you pay for a seat / table, and they prepare the barbecue stove for you; then you go to the market to choose and buy your fresh seafood, and bring it back to your table for cooking!
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Aomori is a major producer of scallops. So of course grab some of these (and I love scallops).
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Some of the seafood you can have it raw right there as well. Apart from the usual oyster, we also tried this organism called “hoya” (ほや). A bit rubbery, not again.
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To make it easier for cooking, the fishmonger would help on some preparation.
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This was our initial selection. You could keep buying more of course.
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Everyone grilling.
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The place is basically self-service, but staff would come by to help. The guy opposite was grilling an oily fish and the fire got a bit of of control at first.
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Apart from the fish market, there’s also a large area selling various other food and snacks. This place made dried squid snacks fresh from the machine.