Fish Cakes @ Takamatsu no Kamaboko, Yanagibashi Market, Fukuoka

 

Yanagibashi Market or Yanagibashi Rengo in Japanese, is sometimes called the kitchen of Fukuoka. And it is not hard to see why. Many a restauranter come here to stock up on high quality seafood and ingredients to ensure that their businesses are armed with the finest culinary delights. There are also many delicious treats for home cooks. But if you are someone who would rather have a pick up and go experience, the market has many street food options too. One such popular spot is Takamatsu no Kamaboko. 

Time for some street food!

Kamaboko is what the Japanese call fish cake, which is a staple in South East Asia and many hot pot eateries in China. Often sold in frozen packs or in the chilled section in most supermarkets, they are rarely sold fresh. So knowing that this spot not only let you pick your goodies, but they can prepare it for your immediate consumption is a great treat. And Takamatsu no Kamaboko is where you can get these delicious morsels fuss free. 

Spoilt for choice. 

Firstly, you would need to pick your selection from the various freshly made fish cake varieties in store. Each type comes at a different price point. However, as they are seen as an everyman's type of meal they range between 100 - 250 yen a piece which makes them relatively affordable, with the mega size chikuwa being the most expensive. My team of 3 eventually decided to have a combination of the vegetable fish cake, chikuwa, ramen, and their limited supply flat cake. 

Golden and piping hot. 

Once you pass them your basket of selected goodies, they will fry them till golden and they are ready for your enjoyment. Every piece was delicious and despite their humble appearance, was just explosive in terms of flavor. The fish flavour is quite fresh and you can taste the sweetness of the fish in every bite. There is a pleasant chewiness to it, like you are biting into a high quality sausage. But a sausage this is not, although they are close in concept.  

Slightly peculiar ramen fishcake

The vegetable one had various fillings in it, upon first bite I can taste cabbage and onions, which provide a fresh sweetness, which compliments the fish taste that was already pretty sweet to begin with. The tube shaped chikuwa was also something we really enjoyed. That was definitely a fish sausage, if you every had the chance to have it. It did not have that artificial flavouring aftertaste you get from store bought chikuwa. The flat cake was somewhat similar but had a slightly more intense fishy taste, and was less sweet. The savouriness of this fried delight help offset the rest. In terms of savoury flavours, the ramen version took the cake. It was literally covered in fried instant ramen with a naruto fish cake being its crown. The combination of various textures was interesting and the spiking of pork broth into it does make for a salty aftershock. It was actually good, but I prefer the veggies one more. 

Another angle of all the wares. Oh, if only my stomach has a black hole in it. 

The fish cakes overall were pretty tasty, and it should be noted that there are even more varieties to try. We did comment that if we got some chilli sauce, then everything would have been way much better. Well, you cannot persuade otherwise when it comes to 3 Malaysians eating fried foods. We like our chilli sauce on everything. Chilli sauce or not, this was very tasty and what we like is the fact that despite being deep fried, it did not feel like an oil slick, and you feel pretty satisfied without having something very heavy landing in your gullet. 

There is so much to see and eat here.
There is definitely something for everyone.

It has been a long while since I bought some goodies from the market and luckily my return was something very memorable. It should be noted that this place has many more interesting shops and you can get your classic sashimi bowl and sweet treats too in other shops. So if you are in the mood for something else, the market will sort you out nicely. If you are looking for something tasty to eat but you have not decided on where, perhaps you can give the market a chance. And if you want some honest street food then this fish cake outlet is definitely waiting for you. The address is as follows:

1 Chome-5 Haruyoshi, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka, 810-0003

What a great trip back. I will return soon!