I went to Uji in Kyoto, one of the famous tea cities in Japan, to attend a tea workshop the other day. Before the workshop, I had lunch at a tea shop at near the Uji station.
This is herring matcha soba (buckwheat noodles)
Herring soba is one of the Kyoto local foods. Herring cooked in a mixture of sugar and soy sauce does really go well with savory soup. Since it was really cold day, the soba was the perfect food to warm myself up. Usually, soba is just simple soba, not macha soba. Because I was in Uji, the shop made it Uji-ish.
"Tsukudani (small dish simmered in soy sauce and mirin seasoning) " made from tea leaves was served with the noodles as garnishing. Please don't say that this doesn't look like appetizing. Actually, very tasty and very Uji-ish again! I’ve been to the city many times before, but whenever I visit, I always feel like something "Uji".
If you prefer something sweet, they serve matcha sweets too.including strawberry and matcha parfait.
One more thing. You'll find a huge tea jar at the station. This is not just a decoration, it's used as a postbox. When you visit Uji, why don't you post a card to your family or friends from the tea city?
