Kencho

Tofu, daikon, and carrot form the core of this everyday Yamaguchi side dish, simmered slightly rich with soy sauce and sugar. Depending on the region or household, taro, fried tofu, konnyaku, chicken, or shiitake may join the pot, giving a taste that layers the daikon's faint sweetness from the broth with the richness of crumbled tofu. It is often made in a large pot and reheated over several days, finished sweet-savory enough to go well with rice, and sometimes ladled with extra broth as "kencho soup."

Tofu is boiled and pressed dry in cloth, while daikon and carrot are cut into thin fan shapes. These are stir-fried with rehydrated dried shiitake, then simmered in dashi with soy sauce, sugar, and mirin until the flavor sinks in. Using fried tofu instead of plain tofu skips the draining step and adds extra richness, it is said. Boiled string beans or scattered daikon greens are common household touches for color and aroma.

Several explanations exist for the name: one traces it to Nagasaki's "kenchen," a stir-fry of shredded vegetables and tofu, and another to the vegetarian cooking of Kenchoji temple in Kamakura. Because "kencho" has long served as an everyday dish in Shimonoseki, a city with a long history as a trading hub, the Kenchoji-temple theory is considered the more likely of the two. Cooking it in one large pot to eat over several days appears to fit a way of life built around the seasonal glut of daikon and carrot in winter.