Sweets
Kiriboshi Imo
Kiriboshi imo — sun-dried sweet potato slices
Steamed sweet potato is sliced thin and dried in the sun. Local lore ties the potato's arrival to a rescued Satsuma ship, and the region's dry winter wind and long daylight hours are said to have suited it well to drying.
- Origin: Shizuoka Omaezaki
- About 190 km southwest of Tokyo
What it's made of
Kiriboshi-imo is a preserved food made by steaming sweet potato, slicing it thin lengthwise, and drying it in the sun. It is said that sweet potato first reached Shizuoka after a man named Osawa Gonemon rescued a shipwrecked crew from Satsuma off Omaezaki during the Edo period. Sun-drying is said to bring out the sweetness and softness of the potato, and the flavor and texture reportedly vary with the variety used.
How it's made
Sweet potatoes are steamed until a bamboo skewer slides through easily, peeled while still hot, sliced thin lengthwise, and then dried in the sun. At home, an oven can reportedly be used to dry them instead of sunlight. They are eaten as is, or lightly toasted under a grill or over charcoal, which is said to crisp the surface while leaving the inside soft and sweeter.
Why it took this shape
The region's winter westerly wind, known locally as 'enshu karakkaze,' along with its long hours of sunshine, is said to have suited sweet potato drying particularly well. A method of boiling the potato first, then slicing it thin and drying it, called 'nikiri-boshi,' is said to have given rise to kiriboshi-imo, and Shizuoka is often credited as the place where dried sweet potato originated.
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.
- 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 Shizuoka
- 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.
- BokumeshiSteamed eel and shaved burdock are simmered together and folded into freshly cooked rice. Its name is said to trace to oversized eels unfit for sale, used in staff meals at eel farms along the Oi River — a mixed rice dish of the region.
- Fuji KinkaBred by Shizuoka Prefecture by crossing its own Duroc line, Fujirock, with Jinhua, a rare breed from China's Zhejiang province — found only in Shizuoka. Said to combine Jinhua's tenderness with Fujirock's marbling.
- Fujieda Asa RamenA town that eats ramen at breakfast — often a hot bowl followed by a cold one.
- Fujinomiya YakisobaIt grew up as a postwar snack at Fujinomiya's candy shops and okonomiyaki stalls. Its identity rests on three local staples: chewy steamed noodles, pork-lard cracklings called nikukasu, and a sardine-powder topping called dashiko.
- GawaRaw bonito is minced and mixed into a chilled miso broth with cucumber, pickled plum, and shiso. Its name is said to come from the "gawa-gawa" sound of stirring miso into ice water aboard a fishing boat — originally a summer meal made at sea.