Information of Shops

Ookuniya

Founded in 1912, this river fish shop is famous for its eels. Although the store has a small frontage, its reputation resonates far and wide. They insist on domestic eels from Aichi Prefecture and natural eels from the Seto Inland Sea caught in Kojima Bay, Okayama Prefecture. They are carefully grilled over charcoal with a secret sauce. The store’s fourth-generation owner follows the cooking method handed down for generations.

• River Fish

Torisei

Torisei has been selling chicken for about 110 years. The store is a long-established poultry specialty store whose popular items are duck breast and chicken thighs cut up in the morning. In the back of the store, you can always see the busy workers. It is said that a shop visited daily by many customers is able to keep its merchandise fresh and tasty, and this is truly the case at this thriving shop. Torisei is dedicated to morning-cut chicken and duck meat. They also wholesale this meat to restaurants and accept orders to ship it to other parts of the country.

• Poultry

Houkyuuan

The surimi (minced or ground seafood) used for the fish cakes at Houkyuuan is mainly made from the highest grade of shiroguchi (silver white croaker) and itoyori (golden threadfin bream), and is grinded in a stone mortar, which is the traditional method. No flour is used. It is gluten-free.

• Medicinal food with fishcake

Tanaka Keiran

Tanaka Keiran has been in business for 87 years, committed solely to making dashimaki omelets. When you take a bite of their dashimaki and chew it lightly, you can feel the delicious broth seeping out. The dashi stock and the egg create a deep flavor without using any chemical seasonings, additives, or sugar. And the way the omelet is made fluffy though having more dashi than usual is what one would call a professional's technique.

• Japanese Omelette

Miki Keiran

Founded in 1928, this store specializing in dashimaki omelets has been in business for more than 90 years. The copper, rectangular pans lined up in a row are much longer than those for home-use. The eggs and seasoned dashi stock are placed in the pan and rolled quickly from the front to the back over high heat, a technique that is truly the work of a skilled artisan. This method of cooking is called "kyomaki (Kyoto-style roll)," and is unique to Kyoto.

• Japanese Omelette

Sankyo Suisan

The company was founded in Osaka's central market. During the war, the owner returned to Kyoto, his grandfather's birthplace, and opened a store in Nishiki Market. Sankyo Suisan wholesales and retails dried swordtip squid, which has been its main product since its Osaka days, as well as salted and dried seafood such as cod roe and chirimen baby sardines, and delicacies such as karasumi (dried salted mullet roe pouch) and konoko (fermented salted sea cucumber intestines). They continue to focus on delivering delicious domestic seafood at affordable prices.

• Salted dried fish

Yamamoto Banba

Yamamoto Banba specializes in fresh, live river fish. They use Nishiki's underground water to deliver river fish straight to restaurants while they are still swimming. They also focus on making prepared specialty dishes using river fish. Because they process and use live fish, the taste is very delicious. They sell these products, which are made with fresh river fish from Lake Biwa and specially seasoned, in their store and ship them to other parts of Japan.

• River Fish

Shimamoto Nori Dry Food

This store specializes in dried food products such as nori seaweed, bonito, kombu kelp, and shiitake mushrooms, and its clients include sushi restaurants, kappo restaurants, famous ryotei (traditional Japanese-style restaurants), and hotels. The owner, who wants customers to experience Kyoto's dashi stock culture, welcomes customers to ask him anything about dashi, such as how to choose the right type of dashi for a particular dish, or the best way to eat the shop’s products. The smell of freshly shaved bonito flakes is wafting to the front of the store.

• Kyo Dried Food

Nishiki Daitomo

Merely saying "dry foods shop" does not convey the depth of this store. The store owner says, "You may find what you are looking for," but it would be more appropriate to say, "You may find something you never thought you would find.” You will find everything from food for votive offerings, ingredients for chakaiseki (tea ceremony kaiseki dishes), and Japanese sweets to rare bottled ingredients. Some items are not on display in the store, so feel free to inquire.

• Dried Food

Minoyoshi

In a word, Minoyoshi is a cereal store, but that does not describe it wholly. It has beans such as black soya beans and azuki beans meant to be cooked at home. It has confectionery ingredients such as Wasanbon sugar and kanbaiko rice flour that are used in Japanese confectionery shops. It also has dried bracken fern starch and frozen konjac jelly used in kaiseki cuisine for special tea ceremonies. There are also a variety of items that, at first glance, even locals wonder what they are used for.

• Beansand Cereals