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Jiimaami Doofu
Jiimaami doofu — peanut milk set firm like sesame tofu
Peanut milk and sweet-potato starch are worked together into something resembling sesame tofu, its strong body and melting texture sitting side by side. High in protein, it was once reserved as a vegetarian dish for memorial services and celebrations, a delicacy of its own.
- Origin: Okinawa
- About 1560 km southwest of Tokyo
What it's made of
Peanut milk is thickened with sweet potato starch into a texture close to sesame tofu in this Okinawan dish. Notably firm yet smooth on the tongue, it carries the toasty, distinctive flavor of peanut throughout. The name comes from a local word for peanut, literally "earth bean," and the dish is also valued as a high-protein, high-calorie source of nourishment, typically served with a dashi-soy sauce and grated ginger.
How it's made
Raw peanuts are ground with water and squeezed hard through cloth to extract the milk. This is brought to a boil in a pot until fragrant, then sweet potato starch dissolved in water is stirred in and the mixture is worked for about thirty minutes until it thickens and turns glossy. It's poured into a mold, chilled until set, then sliced and served with a seasoned sauce. Dropping a small amount into ice water is a good way to check whether it has thickened enough.
Why it took this shape
The ingredient is said to have been treated as precious since the Ryukyu court era, and this dish made from it was traditionally reserved mostly for festive occasions. As a kind of vegetarian fare close to sesame tofu, it was often served at memorial services and celebrations. Ready-made versions have since appeared on shelves, and a dish once eaten only on special days is now enjoyed as an everyday food.
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 Okinawa
- Ashi TibichiPig's trotters are simmered for hours with kelp and daikon until the bone slides free on its own. Rooted in the belief that eating a body part heals the same part in the eater, it's traditionally favored by older people, anyone with trouble in the legs, or those minding their skin.
- AwamoriA distilled spirit from Okinawa made only from Thai rice and black koji, with every grain of rice turned into koji in a method called zen-koji-jikomi. Citric acid from the black koji is said to keep the mash from spoiling even in hot, humid conditions, and it's classified alongside shochu as a single-distillation spirit.
- Chii IrichiiPork blood is worked with pork meat, carrot, and wood-ear mushroom into a distinctive stir-simmered dish. Rooted in the same eat-what-ails-you logic as ashi tibichi, it was thought to guard against anemia, and it's traditionally offered before Lunar New Year and at memorial services.
- Chimu ShinjiPork liver and a native yellow carrot are simmered down almost like a medicinal decoction, meant for days the body needs support. It follows the kusuimun idea that food itself can be medicine, and is traditionally made for anemia or when someone's caught a cold.
- Gooyaa ChanpuruuBitter goya is stir-fried together with Okinawa's firm tofu and egg. A dish only earns the name champuru once tofu is in it, and this one has long served double duty — coaxing back a summer-flagged appetite while delivering vitamin C, now eaten year-round.
- HanazakeA distilled spirit made only on Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost island, at around 60 percent alcohol. Its raw materials and method are the same as awamori, but because its proof exceeds awamori's legal ceiling, it's classified as 'spirits' rather than awamori under the liquor tax law.