Shimanto Pork Donburi Strip in Shimanto Town

The Shimanto Pork Don with balsamic
vinegar with its addictive taste.

We want you to enjoy the “Food” in Shimanto Town
   When you hear the name “Shimanto” the first thing that comes to mind might be the Shimanto River or the popular tourist establishment, the Kaiyodo Hobby Museum. Shimanto is not only rich in tourist destinations, but is also a treasury of food. The town’s society of commerce and industry decided to bring more tourists to the area with the proposal of the “Shimanto Pork Donburi Strip” which started in November of 2012 in preparation for the completion of the Expressway to Shimanto which was completed in December of the same year.

   The town’s commercial and industrial association aimed to make a local gourmet dish similar to Susaki’s “Nabeyaki Ramen”. It asked restaurants within the town if they were interested and experimented several times using Shimanto Pork and rice produced in the town to make a unified menu. Due to difficulties arising from differences in business structure and their sourcing of produce, the idea to create a unified menu had to be abandoned. From this however, they reached a decision that each store would produce its own variation of the Pork Don (Buta Don).

 

Shimanto-Town Society of Commerce and Industry
（From left: Mr. Nakahira and Mr. Okada）

The secret behind the taste: “The Three Conditions of Shimanto Pork Donburi!”
   Currently the pork dish can be enjoyed at 17 different locations within the town, each with its own unique twist. Each store must, 1. Use Shimanto pork in their donburi. 2. Use rice produced within Shimanto for their donburi. 3. That each store makes an original and creative donburi. These “Three Conditions of Shimanto Pork Donburi” allow them to make Pork Don to the best of their ability. Types include, donburi that use a plentiful amount of the seasons vegetables to make a risotto style donburi, donburi with homemade salted rice malt, butadon with addictive sweet and salty flavouring,
and smoked pork roast in katsudon making for many types of butadon that tempt your taste buds. The restaurant we visited was Suehiro Shokudo near Kubokawa Station where we tried “Shimanto Pork Don”, consisting of thick slices of Shimanto Pork bacon and lots of leafy greens and tomatoes. While I originally thought it would have a dense flavor, it was actually quite a simple taste due to the balsamic vinegar. It was delicious, and needless to say, was devoured quickly.

 

Flag of the Shimanto Pork
Donburi Strip

  The campaign originally began with 11 stores within the Kubokawa region, but the yummy food and a pick up from the media helped its popularity spread, and the region was eventually expanded to encompass the Taisho and Towa area in April 2013. The stamp rally which ended in February of 2014 also proved extremely popular, with stories of individuals and groups who would travel to several restaurants per day to compare dishes. Some seasoned warriors managed to visit all stores twice during the campaign. Participating restaurants have a flag at the front of their restaurant, and pamphlets can be obtained at roadside rest areas throughout the prefecture.

   Please try these “Kojanto Umai (Tosaben for extremely delicious)” dishes and find your favorite Shimanto Pork Don! According to Mr. Koji Okada from the society of commerce and industry in Shimanto, there are lots more delicious foods to be had. So they will be holding another new campaign from April. Look forward to this one.

 

Shimanto-Town Society of Commerce and Industry

Address: 1-1 Kotohira-machi, Shimanto-cho, Takaoka-gun 〒786-0013
TEL: 0880-22-0465 FAX: 0880-22-0462
Website:

https://sites.google.com/site/shokuchare/si-wan-shipokudonburi-jie-dao/siwanshipokudonburijiedao
(Interviewer: Max Branchflower)