On our visit to Kurobe city in Toyama we had the great pleasure to visit Aimono Kombu. Kombu kelp is a sea vegetable rich in natural umami called glutamates. It is essential for making dashi stock which is used in many Japanese dishes. Most kombu is harvested in Hokkaido. In the Edo to Meiji periods (1603-1912) there was a famous shipping route called the Kitamae-bune that traveled from Hokkaido through the Sea of Japan to the ports in Toyama, Shimonoseki, and through to Osaka. As a result local cuisine in Toyama includes kombu and the prefecture is one of the top consumers of kombu in Japan.

Aimono Kombu 四十物昆布 is located just across the street from the public fish market called Sakana no Eki Ikuji. So plan on visiting both spots in Kurobe. There is a lovely lunch spot at Ikuji with local seafood. Aimono Kombu has a retail shop with a variety of kombu products. As we were traveling with a two-Michelin star chef @diegoguerrero we could get a behind the scenes tour of the factory and store rooms. It was a fascinating education on the different grades of kombu, the different varietals and how they are used in cooking, and to see how kombu is pressed and shaved thin for tororo. We also tasted two types of shaved kombu with rice balls. Aimono kombu was used at chef @reneredzepi’s #NomaKyoto pop-up.

Aimono Kombu

https://www.aimono.com/info/index.html (in Japanese)

Retail shop

Toyama-ken, Kurobe-shi, Iizawa 339-5 

https://www.aimono.com/ (in Japanese)

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