What is the most famous food in Tohoku (which means North East) area of Japan? Gyutan in Sendai is definitely one of them. You haven’t tried it yet? Go and try it, you must.
Gyutan is a Japanese word, Gyu means beef, and tan means tongue. Actually, there are two words for tongue in Japanese, one is “Shita” that is for living animals/human, and the other one is “Tan”. The latter is only for the tongue as food. As you may now understand, Gyutan means beef tongue in general, but specifically, Gyutan in Sendai stands for beef tongue stake which is done in a special way.
Beef tongue is a common food for Japanese cuisine, especially BBQ. Have you ever tried beef tongue? If so, I am sure that you have been impressed with that unique texture. I don’t have the right word to describe its texture, but it is slightly chewy and tough, but at the same time, fragile. It is not replaceable by any other products.
Usually, beef tongue is sliced into thin pieces and seasoned with salt and a bit lemon juice, but people in Sendai cook it differently. They slice it into thick, nearly 1 cm or even thicker, and grill it over charcoal. Charcoal fire grills it gently and slowly so that Gyutan can keep its softness and tastiness. This process is done by skilled chefs. After this diligent, deeply cared grill, Gyutan will be seasoned with blended salt and spices, and mainly served with pickled Chinese cabbage, green pepper pickled with Miso, beef tail soup, and barley-rice. It is a settled style of Gyutan in Sendai.
As well as Gyutan itself, all the other side dishes are deeply considered about its style, taste, flavour to fit it perfectly. Since Gyutan has a deep taste and heavy, you can say greasy, maybe, pickled Chinese cabbage is perfect refreshment. And green pepper, you might be shocked for the first trial, because it is so spicy, but lately, you will know it changes the taste in your mouth and help you enjoy heavy Gyutan til the end. What is more, one of the most important side dishes is beef tail soup. It is made of long and patiently cooked beef tail. Because of that long process, you will have a transparent and deep flavoured soup of beef tail. It is seasoned simply with salt, and its combination with Gyutan is excellent. It cannot exist Gyutan without tail soup!
There are plenty of restaurants which serve Gyutan in Sendai, even you can find them inside of the building of Sendai Station, where you can find many tourists, or even locals enjoying Gyutan.
At first, Gyutan was only served as a set meal, but currently, the style is changing. You can find Gyutan in local pubs coming only with pickles and tail soup, without rice and wheat so that you can enjoy Gyutan with your choice of alcohol, which perfectly suits. Or even in European style restaurant, you can enjoy Gyutan transformed into stew, Hamburg stake, or even in a salad.
No matter how you cook Gyutan, you can still enjoy its unique texture and deep taste.
With trying several versions of Gyutan, you will understand the traditional and latest food culture of Sendai.
