Raw
Korogaki Namasu
Korogaki namasu — vinegared daikon and carrot with Ujitawara's rolled dried persimmon
Korogaki, a specialty dried persimmon from Ujitawara made by racking rather than hanging, is torn into pieces and tossed with vinegared daikon and carrot for New Year's. Its name is said to come from that unusual drying method, and its gentle sweetness sees it offered on household shrines too.
- Origin: Kyoto Ujitawara
- About 370 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
This namasu-style salad dresses daikon and carrot with korogaki, a dried persimmon specialty of Ujitawara Town. The persimmon's simple sweetness meets the vinegar's clean tartness, and the dried fruit's distinctively chewy texture is said to be its defining trait. It's treated as a dish that adds color to the New Year's osechi spread, counted among the season's winter flavors. Korogaki is also said to be something of an ancestor of tea sweets, its natural sweetness said to serve as a benchmark for the sweetness of wagashi.
How it's made
Shredded daikon and carrot are salted and massaged, then mixed with korogaki that's been pitted and torn into small pieces. Vinegar, mirin, and sugar are added, and the dish is left to season before eating. Another way to enjoy it, it's said, is to pit the korogaki, tuck in a piece of butter, and eat it alongside warm Uji tea. Korogaki is dried from mid-November in the cold wind for two to three weeks, which is said to be why it's treasured as a winter flavor.
Why it took this shape
Korogaki is said to be made by drying the fruit on tiered racks called kakiya before finishing it by rolling it on straw matting, a distinctive method said to be the source of its name. A legend that a manifestation of Kannon once passed down the recipe has made the persimmon something of a lucky charm, reportedly still offered on household shrines today. This auspicious quality is thought to be why it came to be included in New Year's osechi.
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
Also from Kyoto
- Chirimen SanshoChirimen-jako simmered sweet-salty with fresh sansho peppercorns in sake, soy sauce, and mirin — a Kyoto side dish said to have begun as a cook's gift in the mid-Showa era. The peppercorns leave a sharp, fragrant aftertaste.
- Ebiimo to Bodara no TaitanEbi-imo, a striped Kyoto heirloom taro named for its shrimp-like ridges, simmers together with bodara, cod dried in Hokkaido. Gelatin from the dried cod is said to keep the taro from falling apart, while the taro's bitterness softens the cod — a textbook 'deaimon' pairing.
- Fushimi no SakeSake from Fushimi in Kyoto, a district fed by groundwater from the Momoyama plateau. Its water is said to be softer than Nada's, giving a round mouthfeel and gentle, full sweetness that overlaps with the profile recognized under the GI Kyoto geographical indication.
- GanmodokiTofu mixed with vegetables, rolled into balls, and fried. Known in Kyoto as hirousu or hiryōzu, thought to have taken this form through the vegetarian temple-cooking idea of a filling dish made without meat.
- Hamo no YakimonoPike conger, riddled with fine bones, is scored with the skilled honekiri cut and then grilled — teriyaki-glazed or salted — in Kyoto cuisine. Said to have taken root in landlocked Kyoto because the hardy fish could be carried in alive, it is also a festival food for Gion Matsuri, nicknamed the 'hamo festival.'
- Kamonasu DengakuKamonasu, a round Kyoto heirloom eggplant over 10cm across sometimes called the 'queen of eggplants,' is sliced and pan-fried in plenty of oil, then topped with a sweet miso reduced with sake and mirin. It is said to have long been grown on the alluvial fan of Kamigamo.