Seri Nabe

Locally knownKnown to people who live here. Not in the international guidebooks.

Researched and written by Hinato

seri nabeJapanese parsleySendaiwinter hot potNatori

Illustration of Seri Nabe, Miyagi — Illustration — not a photograph

Seri Nabe is the kind of Miyagi food stop that locals recommend before any restaurant with a sign in English.

Seri is Japanese parsley, one of the seven spring herbs, and Miyagi grows more of it than anywhere else in the country. Seri nabe is a hot pot built around it, in a light soy stock with chicken, tofu, mushrooms and wheat gluten, and the herb goes in last so that it barely cooks.

The part that surprises people is the root. Everywhere else in Japan the roots are cut off and thrown away; here they are washed and put in the pot whole, and they are the best thing in it — crisp, white and intensely aromatic in a way the leaves are not. It became a Sendai winter fixture in the 2000s after a downtown izakaya started serving it that way, and it is now on menus across the city from December to March.

Eating essentials

Price range

¥1,500–3,000 per person

Best season

December–March

Hours

Varies by restaurant | Chiefly served December to March

Closed: Varies by restaurant

How long to allow

90 minutes

How to reach it

Access notes

Served across Sendai and Natori, chiefly from around December to March. The pot is Japanese parsley with chicken, tofu, mushrooms and wheat gluten in a light soy stock, with the seri added last and the roots included whole. Miyagi is the largest producer of seri in Japan and Natori is the main growing area. Individual restaurants' hours, rest days and prices vary, and many require reservations in winter.

What locals order

**Eat the roots.** They are left on deliberately and they are the point of the dish. Everywhere else in Japan discards them. **It is a winter dish.** Roughly December to March, when the seri is in season. Outside that most places do not serve it. **Book in winter.** Sendai izakaya running seri nabe fill on weekday evenings in January and February. **Add it last and eat it fast.** The seri goes in at the end and wilts in seconds. Boiling it destroys the aroma the pot exists for. **Natori grows it.** The main production area is just south of the city, which is why the herb reaches restaurants the same day.

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