Kate Meshi

Steamed white rice is mixed with dried shiitake mushrooms, burdock, carrot and fried tofu simmered sweet and savory, a simple rice dish. Fish cake or green beans sometimes join for color, and the sugar-and-soy-flavored broth from the vegetables soaks into the freshly cooked rice, giving it more substance than its plain looks suggest, a staple at the everyday family table.

Dried shiitake, carrot, burdock and fried tofu are cut into thin strips and simmered slowly in a broth seasoned with sugar and soy sauce until well flavored. The well-seasoned vegetables are then folded quickly into freshly cooked white rice. Both the choice of ingredients and how they're cut vary by household, and fish cake or green beans are sometimes added for color.

This land, covered in poor volcanic-ash soil where sweet potato and wheat grew better than rice, is said to have produced this dish as a way to stretch precious rice by mixing in vegetables. Its name is thought to come from serving as sustenance between stretches of farm work, and on special occasions like festivals or equinox holidays, more ingredients were added to turn it into something closer to a feast.