Goma Saba appears as a signature dish in 1 Japan cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Goma saba · Fukuoka
Goma saba is raw Hakata mackerel with sesame paste, soy and ginger. Served as an appetiser at most Hakata izakaya; an autumn-to-winter classic in fine-dining counters across Akasaka and Yakuin.
Goma saba came from Hakata's Genkai Sea fishing tradition, where bonito-grade mackerel is rare-tossed with sesame paste, soy, mirin and ginger. The dish was first written about in late-19th-century records but only spread nationally with the Hakata izakaya boom of the 1980s. It is a winter and shoulder-season dish; the mackerel must be the freshest possible. Toriden, Kawataro and the Yatai stalls all run a version. The dish exports nervously: mackerel oxidises fast and goma saba does not travel well outside Kyushu.
Where to eat in Fukuoka:
- Kawataro Nakasu Honten
- Hakata Mizutaki Toriden Honten
- Mizutaki Ryotei Hakata Hanamidori Tenjin