Grilled
Shingoro
Shingoro — grilled rice-cake skewers glazed with sweet perilla-seed miso
Mashed rice is shaped into egg-sized balls, skewered, grilled over an open hearth, then brushed with junen-miso — sweetened perilla-seed paste — and grilled again — a dish of Shimogo and Minamiaizu. It is said to be named for a young man, Shingoro, who used rice as a stand-in for mochi he could not afford.
- Origin: Fukushima
- About 180 km north of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Mashed rice is shaped into balls, skewered, and grilled with a coating of juunen-miso, made from ground perilla, in this dish from Shimogo and Minami-Aizu. The toasty flavor of the perilla miso paired with the chewy rice makes for a simple but deeply satisfying dish, it's said. It's often eaten to celebrate the new rice harvest, it's said.
How it's made
Rice is mashed and shaped into egg-sized balls, skewered, and grilled slowly over an open hearth, the basic method. Once both sides are browned, they're coated in juunen-miso and grilled further until lightly charred, it's said. Juunen-miso is made by mixing ground perilla with miso, sugar, mirin, and sake, with the proportions said to vary by household or restaurant.
Why it took this shape
The name shingoro is said to trace back to a tale of a young man who, unable to afford mochi at New Year's, mashed rice into balls and coated them in juunen-miso instead, finding it turned out delicious. In a region known for growing perilla, making use of rice as a substitute for the precious mochi is thought to be how this dish came to take its shape.
Before you go
Dishes in the same style
- Abutte KamoSmall damselfish are salted overnight, then grilled whole, scales and innards left on — a bony fish often passed over elsewhere, but said to have caught on in Hakata Bay after a Meiji-era glut led someone to salt and grill the excess.
- Gohei MochiFreshly cooked non-glutinous rice is pounded, pressed flat on a skewer, and grilled with a miso glaze. Said to have originated in the mountainous Chubu region, it's traditionally made the night before a festival praying for safety in mountain work.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Fukushima
- Aizu RamenFlat, thick hand-made noodles in a clear soy broth. Said to trace back to a Aizuwakamatsu diner owner bringing home a taste learned in Yokohama — a second soy ramen lineage that grew up apart from Kitakata's, in the same Aizu region.
- Aizu Curry YakisobaA dish from Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima: sauce yakisoba topped with curry roux. It's said to trace to a diner called Tommy Food, which began ladling curry over its yakisoba, catching on especially among young diners for its low price and filling size.
- Aizu GyuSteers and heifers of Japanese Black raised in the Aizu basin, fed mainly local rice straw — the basin's sharp seasonal swings are said to suit fattening, making it Fukushima's leading brand.
- Aizu JidoriA lineage said to have been brought to Aizu by Heike clan refugees, saved from near-extinction and re-established through crossbreeding by Fukushima prefecture; reportedly fattened for 90 to 170 days.
- Aizu Sōsu KatsudonAizu's sauce katsudon, doused in a thick sweet-savory sauce. Its origin has several competing accounts, none settled, but all point to it being refined through everyday improvisation on Taisho-era Western food.
- Aizu Yamajio RamenSalt ramen seasoned with mountain salt drawn from hot-spring water — rounder than sea salt.