Sweets
Kanzarashi
Kanzarashi — small rice-flour dumplings chilled in spring water and drizzled with sweet syrup
Small dumplings made from rice flour are chilled in Shimabara's spring water and drizzled with a sugar or honey syrup — said to make use of groundwater that began welling up after the 1792 Shimabara disaster, once a summer sweet reserved for entertaining guests.
- Origin: Nagasaki Shimabara
- About 920 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
A cold sweet of small dumplings made from glutinous rice flour, chilled in Shimabara's natural spring water and topped with a syrup of sugar and honey. It's said to be prized for its refined sweetness and smooth texture going down, though the syrup recipe varies by household and shop, giving the flavor real range. The cold, clear quality of Shimabara's own spring water is said to be what carries the flavor.
How it's made
Broken glutinous rice unfit for tax payment is ground in a stone mill, and the sediment that settles out is dried to make glutinous rice flour. This is kneaded with water, rolled into balls, boiled into dumplings, and chilled in Shimabara's spring water. A syrup made by dissolving sugar and honey is poured over the top, and the syrup's exact mix is said to vary from household to household and shop to shop. Rolling the dumplings to a uniform size is said to be what gives every bite the same smooth texture.
Why it took this shape
The dish is said to have started when commoners around Shimabara ground broken rice unfit for tax payment into flour for long-term storage. A 1792 upheaval from the collapse of Mount Mayuyama is said to have increased the number of natural springs in the area, and the wisdom of keeping the dumplings chilled in that spring water is thought to have developed into a summer treat for guests. Rinsing the flour in cold water during the depths of winter is said to be the source of the dish's name, which translates to 'winter-rinsed.' In an era when sugar was precious, it's said to have been a special sweet reserved for summer guests.
Before you go
- How to shop in a depachika (department store food hall)A guide to browsing prepared foods and bento, choosing wagashi as a gift with a good shelf life, sampling etiquette, end-of-day discounts, asking for cold packs and wrapping, and finding your way around a depachika floor.
- Foods to look for in summerA guide to foods often seen in Japan around summer — eel on the Day of the Ox, hiyashi chuka, somen, shaved ice, edamame with beer, and hamo — with rough pointers for finding them.
- At kissaten, cafes, and kanmi-dokoroThe difference between jun-kissa and chain cafes, the morning-set custom, and kanmi-dokoro staples like anmitsu and zenzai.
Dishes in the same style
- Abekawa MochiFresh-pounded rice cake is dusted in soybean flour mixed with sugar. Named for the Abe River, it's said to have been famous among Tokaido travelers as a teahouse specialty and to appear in the travel novel Tokaidochu Hizakurige.
- Iga ManjuSweet bean paste is wrapped in rice flour dough, then coated with dyed sticky rice grains. One account ties the name to the grains' resemblance to a chestnut's spiny husk, and in the western Mikawa region it's said to be offered to Hina dolls at the Doll Festival.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Nagasaki
- ArumadoA hard-boiled egg dyed pink is wrapped in fish paste and steamed into a kamaboko log that shows a pink-rimmed cross-section when cut — a Hirado specialty, with kin dishes called "arimado" in Sasebo and "ryugan" in Nagasaki.
- Goto UdonA hand-pulled noodle from Shinkamigoto, Nagasaki. Its technique is thought to trace back to envoys returning from Tang China, and the island's camellia oil is worked into the dough for a smooth, elastic bite.
- HanahajikiCucumber, carrot, deep-fried tofu, and shrimp are cut into strips and fanned out on a plate to be dipped in a hot mustard vinegar-miso — a dish from Isahaya said to be named for how the mustard "flicks the nose," traditionally served at Buddhist memorial services.
- HatoshiShrimp and squid paste sandwiched in bread and deep-fried, a Nagasaki specialty said to have arrived from China in the Meiji era, growing from a shippoku banquet course into a food loved across the city.
- HikadoFish or chicken and vegetables like daikon and carrot are diced fine and simmered, thickened at the end with grated sweet potato — said to originate in a meat stew eaten by Portuguese residents of Nagasaki, its name from the Portuguese word for "minced."
- HikitoshiChicken raised at home is butchered for this Iki hot pot, typically enriched with iki-doufu, a rich local tofu, and firm-boiled somen — said to have begun as a dish served to guests in the inner parlor, its name tracing to "hiki-toshi," leading a guest through.