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Shime Dofu
Shime Dofu — pressed tofu roll seasoned with soy sauce and sugar
Tofu rolled in a bamboo mat, boiled, then seasoned with soy sauce and sugar. Sliced thin like pickled radish, it has a kamaboko-like texture and was made for festivals and seasonal rites.
- Origin: Gunma
- About 100 km northwest of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Boiled tofu, seasoned with soy sauce and sugar, is firmed to a springy texture reminiscent of fish cake. Rolling it in a bamboo mat before boiling presses out moisture, giving the tofu an unexpectedly firm bite, and it is said to be sliced thin like pickled daikon to eat.
How it's made
Tofu is wrapped tightly in a bamboo mat and boiled, then seasoned with soy sauce and sugar. As it cools, the texture firms up, making it easy to slice into bite-sized pieces. It is said to be often used as one ingredient in simmered dishes, its plain seasoning letting the tofu's own flavor come through.
Why it took this shape
In times when meat and fish were scarce, tofu made from soybeans is said to have been treasured in Gunma as a valuable source of protein. Boiling and firming it improved keeping, and it is said to have been passed down as a dish households made by hand from soybeans brought together for festivals and seasonal celebrations.
Before you go
- How to shop at a supermarketHow to choose prepared foods, sashimi, and packaged sushi, when discount stickers tend to appear, region-only specialties, buying by weight, the checkout and bagging flow, and sampling etiquette at a local supermarket.
- Osechi and zoni for the New YearA guide to the meaning behind osechi's tiered boxes, the regional differences in zoni (square vs. round mochi, clear vs. miso broth), and the nanakusa-gayu custom.
- Setsubun: ehomaki and lucky beansA guide to ehomaki, the uncut sushi roll said to be eaten facing a lucky direction on Setsubun, and to mamemaki, the bean-throwing custom with roasted lucky beans.
Dishes in the same style
- Agonoko UmaniThe roe of egg-bearing flying fish, caught only in early summer, is simmered in stock and soy sauce as an Oki bar snack. Its large grains and dense, sticky texture are prized as a delicacy said to be scarcer even than the fish's flesh.
- Funa MisoCrucian carp is simmered slowly with soybeans for around five hours, then finished in a sauce of red miso and coarse sugar. A freshwater fish dish of the Kiso rivers' lower basin, made with fatty winter carp simmered until the bones soften through.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Gunma
- Fujioka RamenAn unassuming clear soy chuka soba, rooted in the town's diner culture.
- AmanejiWheat dumplings simmered in a sweetened red bean soup, mainly eaten around Shibukawa; Kawaba village calls it amadango. It was a treat during breaks from farm work.
- Ayu ShioyakiGunma's official fish, skewered in a zigzag and salted before charcoal grilling. Sweetfish from the Kanna river are prized for their aroma and firm flesh, drawing visitors once the season opens in June.
- GojiruGround soybean paste, called go, stirred into a miso soup with seasonal vegetables. Made in soybean-growing Gunma from autumn into winter, it has long served as a warming, nutritious dish.
- KatemeshiRice cooked with barley, beans, daikon and other bulking ingredients called kate. Born of rice shortages, it survives today as a mixed rice dish often served on the Tenjin festival day.
- Sosu KatsudonBreaded pork fillet dipped in a house sauce blending Worcestershire with eel tare, served over rice. It spread as a delivery favorite in the textile town of Kiryu and is now found across the prefecture.