Sweets
Decchi Yokan
Decchi yokan — bamboo-leaf-wrapped azuki yokan thickened with flour
A simple steamed yokan made by mixing sweet azuki paste with flour and wrapping it in bamboo sheath. Landlocked Omi had little access to agar, so flour was used as a binder instead, giving the confection its chewy texture and faint bamboo aroma.
- Origin: Shiga
- About 360 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
Decchi yokan is a simple sweet made by mixing smooth azuki bean paste with wheat flour, steaming it, and wrapping it in bamboo bark. In landlocked Omi, agar for standard yokan was reportedly hard to come by, so wheat flour is said to have taken its place as a binder. The bamboo's faint fragrance, a gentle sweetness, and a chewy texture define it, and in the Shigaraki area the same name is reportedly also used for a version set with agar as a chilled mizu-yokan.
How it's made
Smooth azuki bean paste is worked together with wheat flour until well combined. The dough is laid onto bamboo bark that's been dampened with water, wrapped, tied with a bamboo cord, and steamed. Once steamed, it's lightly weighted while still hot to flatten it, then left to cool with the bamboo's fragrance sealed inside. Because it can be made simply from ingredients found almost anywhere, it's said to have once been made in many households.
Why it took this shape
One account holds that the name comes from decchi, young apprentices sent from the Omi-Hachiman area to work in Osaka or the Kanto region, who are said to have brought this sweet home because it was affordable even on a small wage. Another holds that it comes from decchiru, confectioners' slang for kneading dough together. Using wheat flour in place of agar in a landlocked region is thought to be what shaped this sweet into something distinctly Shiga's own.
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
Contrast
- Decchi YokanSweet red bean paste is set with agar, sugar, and a pinch of salt into a thin, water-yokan-like winter confection. It is said to have begun when a young apprentice, home for New Year from a Kyoto shop, stretched a bar of yokan with water to share with neighbors, eaten by the kotatsu.
- Mizu YokanA style of yokan with less agar and sugar and more water, giving a smooth, light texture. It keeps for a shorter time than neri-yokan and was once said to be made mainly in cooler months, though today it is also enjoyed as a cooling summer treat.
Also from Shiga
- Aka Konnyaku NiKonjac dyed reddish with iron oxide, a specialty of Omi-Hachiman, is pan-simmered with bonito flakes and soy sauce. The color holds even after cooking, and the dish is a fixture at ceremonial meals and school lunches alike.
- Amenoio GohanA whole Lake Biwa trout, migrating upstream to spawn, is set atop rice and cooked together; "amenoio" means "rain fish," a name tied to the trout's autumn run after rainfall. The flesh and roe are flaked and mixed through the rice, traditionally made in large pots for gatherings.
- Biwamasu SashimiBiwamasu, a trout found only in Lake Biwa, is filleted and served raw as sashimi. The fish grows richest from early to midsummer and is prized locally as "the jewel of Lake Biwa" — a fish so scarce that it rarely reaches markets beyond the lakeshore.
- Chojifu no Karashi AeChojifu, a square baked wheat gluten unique to Shiga, is paired with cucumber and dressed in mustard-miso vinegar. The gluten also appears in Buddhist vegetarian meals, and its chewy texture with a refreshing tang makes the dish a staple at family gatherings.
- Dongame JiruEggplant scored with a crosshatch pattern is simmered in dashi, then finished with miso and ground sesame. Said to originate in the merchant town of Gokasho, the name compares the muddy look of the sesame in the broth and the eggplant's scored skin to a turtle's shell.
- Ebi MameFreshwater shrimp from Lake Biwa are simmered sweet-savory with soybeans. Inexpensive and long-keeping, the dish is eaten as everyday fare, but is also served at New Year's with a wish for long life — that one might live, like the bent-backed shrimp, into old age.