Sweets
Makigaki
Makigaki — dried persimmons layered, rolled in bamboo bark, and bound with straw rope
Sun-dried persimmons are split, layered a dozen or so at a time, wrapped in bamboo bark, and bound tightly with straw rope into a keepable sweet. Its name evokes "gathering good fortune," and it is said to be sought as a year-end gift and New Year charm.
- Origin: Kumamoto
- About 900 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
A preserved food made by stacking a dozen or so dried persimmons into a rugby-ball shape, wrapping them in bamboo sheath, and binding them tight with straw rope. When sliced, the amber color of the dried fruit layered with its white sugar bloom is said to look like a rose in bloom, and its distinctive flavor and natural sweetness are likened to a fine wagashi sweet. It's a traditional food from the Uki district and Yamato town, both known for producing dried persimmons.
How it's made
Astringent persimmons are hand-kneaded a few times as they dry to shape them, and are considered finished once a white dusting of natural fructose appears on the surface. The stem and tip are trimmed, a slit is cut lengthwise to open the fruit, and the seeds are removed. A dozen or so are stacked into a rugby-ball shape, wrapped in bamboo sheath with straw, and bound tightly with rope. It's sliced thin for a tea snack, or paired with cream cheese or ham.
Why it took this shape
The dish is a traditional food from a region known for producing dried persimmons, said to have been made as a New Year's gift or a lucky charm for the end of the year, playing on a phrase about 'raking in good fortune.' The way it's wrapped in bamboo sheath and bound with rope varies by region and producer, and the form is thought to have endured because it serves both as a practical preserved food and as an auspicious-looking gift. Preparing the bamboo sheath and straw starts around July, making it a slow, months-long piece of handwork that only comes together in late autumn.
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 Kumamoto
- Amakusa DaioA large-bodied meat fowl once kept in Amakusa in the Meiji and Taisho eras, said to have died out in the early Showa period before Kumamoto prefecture spent roughly a decade recreating it; reportedly among the biggest jidori breeds, shipped at 120–150 days.
- Gane-ageSweet potato cut into batons is coated in a ginger-sweetened batter and deep-fried. "Gane" is Amakusa dialect for crab, said to describe the shape of the fried strands, and the dish also serves as a vegetarian offering at Buddhist services.
- Tai SomenSomen noodles are simmered in the broth of sea bream head and bones cooked down whole — a celebratory dish said to reflect the influence of nearby Shimabara's somen tradition. In Yamato's Mamihara, a version called "taimen" simmers the whole fish instead.
- Tako MeshiSun-dried octopus is rehydrated, chopped, and either cooked into rice with burdock and carrot or mixed in afterward — a dish that leans on the concentrated flavor of dried octopus, known for the summer sight of octopus hung out to dry in Amakusa's Ariake.
- Baniku SobaFrom the Aso area of Kumamoto: hot soba topped with horse meat simmered sweet and salty. It's said to carry the history of a region where horse meat took root as a restorative food for the injured and ill.
- ButaaeBoiled octopus and eggplant are stir-fried in a sweet, spicy barley miso — an Amakusa home dish said to have begun as a stand-in for pork, once hard to come by, using the local octopus instead while keeping the old name, "pork mix."