History
Mizutaki traces to the late-19th-century Meiji era in Hakata, when Western influence brought the practice of simmering meat for stocks. The form codified at Suigetsu, founded 1905 in Hakata, and now runs through Toriden and Hakata Mizutaki Hanamidori. The cook is single-product fine dining: a whole chicken plus water and salt simmered six to seven hours, served with the broth as the first pour and the meat as the second course. Zosui rice porridge closes the meal. Today the dish is a Fukuoka winter signature though Toriden and Hanamidori run it year-round.
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Tours, tastings and classes from the cities on this page, bookable on GetYourGuide.
Common allergens: Egg, Soy
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (around 1.5kg), brand-chicken if possible
- Sea salt
- Spring onions, green parts only
- 30g ginger, sliced
- Cabbage, garlic chives, mushrooms, tofu, daikon: 800g vegetable mix
- 400g Japanese short-grain rice (for zosui finish)
- Yuzu ponzu and yuzu pepper, for serving
- Eggs, for the zosui
Method
- Joint the whole chicken into 8 pieces. Reserve the carcass.
- In a stockpot, cover the carcass plus drumsticks with 3.5L cold water, two pinches of salt, spring-onion tops and ginger. Bring slowly to a bare simmer, skim, then hold at 90C for 6 hours. The broth must not boil hard, only quiver.
- Strain. Return the broth to a clay pot or shallow casserole over the table burner.
- Add the breast and thigh meat to the broth, simmer 6 minutes. Skim. Lift the cooked meat to a side plate.
- Add cabbage, mushrooms, daikon and tofu to the broth. Simmer 8 minutes. Add garlic chives at the close.
- Serve broth in cups first as the appetiser, then chicken with ponzu and yuzu pepper, then vegetables. For zosui, finish with cooked rice and beaten eggs in the remaining broth, cook 3 minutes.
Tip from the editors. A bare simmer at 90C is the difference between mizutaki and a chicken stew. Use a thermometer and never let the broth boil.
Where to eat mizutaki
Mizutaki in Fukuoka
Hakata Mizutaki Toriden Honten ★ 4.6
Toriden's mizutaki course is single-product fine dining: home-bred Kyushu chicken simmered six to seven hours into a creamy yellow broth, with golden ponzu.
Book1 to 2 weeks ahead
TipTENJIN course at 6,600 yen per person is the most-ordered entry; the premium course adds more chicken cuts.
Mizutaki Ryotei Hakata Hanamidori Tenjin ★ 4.3
Single-product mizutaki room in Imaizumi using the Hanamidori chicken raised on seaweed-and-herb feed at the operator's own northern Kyushu farm.
Book1 week ahead
TipWeekend lunch is the easier entry; weekday dinner takes a day or two ahead.
Hakata Hanamidori Hakata Ekimae ★ 4.5
Hanamidori at Hakata Station sits in JR Hakata City, within walking distance of the shinkansen gate. Same kitchen as Imaizumi flagship, faster turnover.
OrderMizutaki course with the rice-porridge zosui finish.
TipReserve through Savor Japan; weekday lunches are easier than weekend dinners.
Hakata Mizutaki Toriden Yakuin ★ 4.6
Toriden's Yakuin branch is quieter than the Hakata flagship and runs the same six-hour chicken broth. Tatami rooms upstairs, counter on the ground floor.
OrderMizutaki TENJIN course at 6,600 yen per person.
TipReserve through TableCheck; weekday dinners are easier than Saturday nights.
More cities are in research. Want mizutaki covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.