Sweets
Yubeshi
Yubeshi — a citron confection kneaded with sticky rice flour
Steamed sticky rice flour is kneaded with grated yuzu peel and starch syrup into a chewy sweet in Takahashi and Yakage — where the Tohoku version uses walnut, Okayama's leans on the yuzu grown here, a treat said to have pleased traveling lords at old post towns.
- Origin: Okayama
- About 570 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Steamed glutinous rice flour is worked with finely chopped yuzu peel and starch syrup into a soft confection that developed as a portable, long-keeping food. The texture is tender, with a burst of citrus fragrance, and versions enriched with white miso and sugar carry extra depth. Some are even stuffed inside a hollowed-out yuzu with sweet bean jelly — all pairing well with green tea as an everyday treat.
How it's made
Steamed glutinous rice flour is combined with finely chopped yuzu peel and starch syrup, then kneaded and simmered down slowly. Some makers work in white miso and sugar for extra richness, while others hollow out a yuzu near its stem and pack it with sweet bean jelly. Shapes vary too, from flat boards to rounds to tied bundles.
Why it took this shape
Yubeshi is said to have spread across Japan originally as a portable, long-keeping food and even a tribute offering, with walnuts used in the Tohoku and Kanto versions. In Okayama, long known as a yuzu-growing region, the citrus took walnut's place. The post towns of Takahashi and Yakage are said to have made it a favorite even among feudal lords passing through during the Edo-period sankin-kotai processions.
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 Okayama
- Ami to Daikon no NitsukeTiny Setouchi shrimp called ami, richest in early autumn, are simmered with daikon in soy sauce and sugar — a pairing said to have grown from the two coming into season together, with a salted version kept for winter when rough seas kept boats ashore.
- Bachi JiruThe offcut ends of hand-stretched somen, called bachi for their resemblance to a shamisen pick, are simmered with daikon, carrot, and fried tofu in Asakuchi's Kamogata — said to hold a firmer bite than the somen strands themselves.
- Buri ZoniIn southern Okayama, New Year's zoni is built around yellowtail, a fish that changes name as it grows and so is read as auspicious, simmered with spinach, daikon, and other root vegetables — a dish passed down through the generations for the New Year's table.
- Chiya GyuJapanese Black raised in Niimi, Okayama, tracing to one of the oldest documented "tsuru-ushi" pedigree lines from the Edo period — said to benefit from the clear Takahashi river and fertile soil.
- Demi KatsudonA freshly fried pork cutlet is doused in hot demi-glace sauce over rice, a bowl said to have been devised by the founder of an old Okayama City restaurant after being won over by Western-style cooking at a Tokyo hotel — toppings vary shop to shop.
- FunameshiCrucian carp caught in the waterways of the reclaimed Kojima Bay farmland, at their least fishy in the cold season, are minced by hand and simmered with root vegetables, the rich broth then ladled over hot rice — also known as tonto-ko-jiru for the sound of the knife against the board.