Raw
Kaki Namasu
Kaki namasu — daikon and carrot salad with dried persimmon
Red-and-white daikon and carrot salad is joined by 'korogaki', astringent persimmons dried in the cold wind of Marumori and Shiroishi until sweet — a New Year's dish said to be prized for its lucky coloring and the daikon's crunch.
- Origin: Miyagi Marumori
- About 270 km north of Tokyo
What it's made of
A New Year's dish that adds "korogaki"—dried persimmons made in the southern part of the prefecture—to the red-and-white vinegared salad of daikon and carrot. The crisp bite of daikon and carrot mingles with the concentrated natural sweetness of the dried persimmon, and vinegar's clean sourness ties it together. Carrot's red and daikon's white paired with the persimmon's color give it a look fitting for New Year's.
How it's made
Daikon and carrot, cut into thin strips, are lightly salted to soften, then seasoned with vinegar and sugar. After resting in the refrigerator to let the flavors settle, dried persimmon is added to finish. Some households add local yuzu as well, it is said. Served as part of New Year's osechi cuisine, it is favored as the standard way to bring sweetness to the red-and-white salad.
Why it took this shape
In the southern towns of Marumori and Shiroishi, peeling astringent persimmons and drying them in the cold wind to make "korogaki" is said to be a long-standing practice. Pairing this persimmon, which gathers sweetness in the cold, with the red-and-white salad essential to New Year's osechi is thought to have produced a dish that balances an auspicious look with natural sweetness.
Before you go
- 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.
- Food for Hinamatsuri and Tango no SekkuA guide to the chirashi sushi and hina-arare eaten at Hinamatsuri, and the kashiwa mochi and chimaki eaten at Tango no Sekku — festivals wishing for children's healthy growth.
Dishes in the same style
- Akagarei no KomaburiRoe-bearing red flounder is sliced into sashimi and tossed with its own boiled, crumbled eggs, a dish from around the Amijiro area of Iwami Town. Said to have descended from a similar dish made with crucian carp roe, it pairs rich eggs with mild, fatty winter flounder for festivals and New Year's.
- Amagi no KawatakeA rare wild freshwater algae, found only in the Kogane River in Asakura, is dressed with sweet or three-flavor vinegar — said to have once been presented to the shogun, and now conservation efforts continue as it's listed as endangered.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Contrast
- Hesodaikon no NishimeBoiled daikon rounds are threaded on a skewer and left to dry in the winter wind for about a month, becoming 'hesodaikon' — said to be named for the navel-like hole the skewer leaves — then simmered with carrot and frozen tofu.
- ImonamasuJulienned potato has its starch thoroughly rinsed away, then gets stir-fried in oil and vinegar until crisp — a dish of Iiyama City said to have been eaten since the Edo period and served on large plates at gatherings and ceremonies.
- Kaki NamasuDaikon and carrot, cut into thin strips and softened with salt, are tossed together with torn pieces of sweet dried persimmon — a dish of Gifu, a region known for its persimmons, where fine dried varieties like Dojo Hachiya persimmon are on hand, often served at New Year's.
- Ichijiku no KanroniUnripe figs grown for processing are slow-simmered with nothing more than water, sugar, and lemon juice — a simple preserve said to be put up at home every September and October, mostly in southern Miyagi, and shared around in jars.
- Nara Kaki NamasuA Nara New Year dish that adds dried persimmon to a red-and-white vinegared salad of daikon and carrot. In an age when sugar was costly, the persimmon's sweetness is said to have softened the vinegar's edge, and the red-and-white colors, echoing a ceremonial paper cord, carry a wish for peace.
Also from Miyagi
- Aburafu DonDeep-fried wheat gluten, shaped into a log, is simmered in a sweet-savory broth and set with egg over rice, katsudon-style — a Tome City bowl said to trace to a tofu shop's shelf-stable gluten product, later turned into a bowl dish by a local innkeeper.
- AzaraNapa cabbage pickled long enough to turn sour is simmered slowly with rockfish trimmings and sake lees — a Kesennuma dish said to taste even better cold, or reheated the next day, long loved as everyday food.
- Bakke MisoButterbur sprouts picked in early spring — called 'bakke' locally — are boiled, chopped, and worked into a paste with walnuts and miso, said to be prized for helping clear the body of winter's buildup, spooned over rice or grilled fish.
- Donko JiruDonko, a brown hakeling landed at Ishinomaki and Kesennuma ports, is simmered in miso with daikon and tofu — a fish said to be considered lucky for money, given its wide mouth and narrow tail, and offered at the autumn ebisu-ko festival.
- Ebi MochiPaddy shrimp caught in irrigation channels and ponds are seasoned with soy sauce and sake, then folded whole into freshly pounded mochi — a Kurihara dish said to be served, red against white, to guests over New Year's.
- Fusube MochiLoach, grilled plain then smoked over an irori hearth, is ground to powder and simmered with grated daikon and burdock in a soy-chili sauce, then folded into freshly pounded mochi — said to be a mochi dish born of inland Kurihara's distance from the sea.