Sweets
Tofu Kasutera
Tofu kasutera — castella sponge made with tofu
Tofu, pressed of its moisture, is mixed with sugar and egg and baked into a castella-style sponge — said to have begun as a way to stretch prized tofu when eggs and sugar were too costly, giving southern Akita a sweet with a moist, tofu-tinged texture.
- Origin: Akita Daisen
- About 420 km north of Tokyo
What it's made of
A sweet from southern Akita: drained tofu mixed with sugar and egg and baked into a sponge-cake form. Its defining trait is a moist texture that keeps the tofu's character, with a faint soybean aroma on the bite, it is said. Baked with plenty of sugar, it is said to keep well even with tofu inside, and it is favored not only as a snack but as an accompaniment to sake.
How it's made
Drained tofu is squeezed in a cloth and pushed through a sieve. Sugar, egg white, potato starch, and salt are worked in until smooth, then baked from above and below in a pan made for the purpose. Beyond a snack or teatime treat, some households eat it dipped in wasabi and soy sauce like sashimi, it is said. Walnuts or raisins are sometimes added these days as a variation, it is said.
Why it took this shape
Akita, with its thriving trade across the Sea of Japan, is said to have been a place where new customs from Osaka and Hokuriku arrived easily, yet sugar and egg, the ingredients of sponge cake, were costly for ordinary people at the time. Using tofu instead—a food eaten only on special occasions—and baking it in the shape of a cake is thought to be how this dish began.
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.
- Osechi and zoni for the New YearA guide to the meaning behind osechi's tiered boxes, the regional differences in zoni (square vs. round mochi, clear vs. miso broth), and the nanakusa-gayu custom.
- Setsubun: ehomaki and lucky beansA guide to ehomaki, the uncut sushi roll said to be eaten facing a lucky direction on Setsubun, and to mamemaki, the bean-throwing custom with roasted lucky beans.
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
Known source
Contrast
- Tamago KantenAgar liquid is sweetened and set with beaten egg in a mold — said to be favored, especially in southern Akita, as a 'torimawashi' dish handed round at funerals and celebrations, since it slices easily to serve a crowd and travels well in a box.
- Sanbai MisoGlutinous and non-glutinous rice flour and sweet red bean paste, each measured out a bowlful, are kneaded together and steamed — no miso in it, though the name is said to come from how the mixed batter once resembled miso, a tiered-box sweet from southern Akita.
Also from Akita
- Akazushi (Akazuke)Cooked glutinous rice cured briefly in red shiso and vinegar — an Akita sushi with no fish in it at all, a plant-based cousin of narezushi also offered at Obon altars.
- AsazukeBroken rice grains are pureed, simmered, and seasoned sweet-and-sour with sugar and vinegar, then mixed with cucumber, turnip, and seasonal fruit — a summer dessert unrelated to the pickle of the same name, said to refresh women after a day planting rice.
- Edokei RamenA soy ramen topped with a knob of bright red chili miso built on garlic and garlic chives. Stirred in gradually as you eat, it turns a mild bowl steadily richer and spicier — a specialty of Akita City.
- Akita HoshimochiSliced mochi is strung up, soaked in water, then left to freeze and thaw through the winter cold in a process called 'kanjime' — the result crisp and filling, said to have fueled breaks during rice-planting season.
- Imonoko JiruBaby taro corms called 'imonoko' simmer with chicken, mushrooms, and wild greens in miso or soy — an autumn soup said to use taro grown in Yokote's Sannai district, prized for its soft bite, and set alongside kiritanpo nabe as the region's autumn counterpart.
- Akita no SakeAkita sake, brewed with soft water in deliberate contrast to Nada's hard water, aiming for a mellow, delicate character. Breweries buried in snow are said to gain a natural insulating effect from it, a tradition of slow, low-temperature fermentation built around that climate.