What’s Goboten Udon? It’s Fukuoka people’s soul food.
Guess what these finely shredded things are! It’s a Tempura made of the shredded root vegetable, gobo. It comes with hot udon noodles and a hot soup broth made from dried bonito, dried seaweed, and konbu. In Fukuoka Prefecture, the goboten udon is popular among people, and many udon restaurants have it on their menu.
What’s gobo?
Some of you living in other countries might wonder what kind of vegetable gobo is. I can totally understand why you might not know about it, because it’s mainly eaten in Japan. Frankly to say, gobo is the root of Asteraceae type flowers. You might be frightened at hearing that we eat root type vegetables, but gobo is actually very rich in dietary fibers and helps us to eliminate toxins and waste from our body.
The amount of gobo consumed in Fukuoka is relatively high in Japan. A dish called chikuzen-ni that also uses gobo is eaten as well. The seasoning is based on dried bonito and dried konbu for this one. It’s a little sweet, very appetizing, and you can eat as much as you want because it’s a healthy vegetable! Please try goboten udon and chikuzen-ni if you are visiting Fukuoka Prefecture and tell us what you think!
