Sweets ── Wagashi (Japanese sweets)
Kasutera
Kasutera — a tall, dense sponge cake introduced from Portugal via Nagasaki
A tall, dense sponge cake made from just wheat flour, egg, sugar, and starch syrup. Said to descend from a nanban confection brought to Nagasaki from Portugal in the 16th century, later reworked by Nagasaki's confectioners to suit Japanese taste.
- Origin: Nagasaki City, Nagasaki
- Steamed buns and baked sweets
- About 970 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
A tall, moist sponge cake made from just four ingredients: wheat flour, egg, sugar, and starch syrup. Settling coarse sugar at the base for a contrasting texture is said to be the signature of the Nagasaki style. A richer version called "goshoyaki," made with a higher ratio of egg yolk, is also known, said to yield a finer-grained, denser batter. A slight scorching of the batter against the wooden frame's sides is also said to lend a distinctive flavor, and many shops are said to insist on wooden frames for this reason.
How it's made
Egg and sugar are whipped, combined with flour and starch syrup into a batter, poured into a wooden frame, and baked slowly through. The baked cake is cooled upside down to even out its air bubbles before being sliced. The starch syrup is said to be what keeps the texture moist for a long time. Judging the right amount of baking relies heavily on years of experience, and evenly cooking all the way to the center of the wooden frame is said to be where a maker's skill shows. Whether the coarse sugar at the base is left with a gritty crunch or fully melted is also said to differ by shop tradition.
Why it took this shape
One account traces the cake to a nanban confection Portuguese traders brought to Nagasaki in the 16th century, reworked by Nagasaki's confectioners into its own distinct baked form with a different mix and method from the original. Baking it tall in a wooden frame is said to mark the effort of turning a bread-like nanban sweet into something soft and sweet enough for Japanese taste. In Nagasaki, long-established shops still line the old town near Dejima today, and selling a full uncut loaf as a formal gift is said to remain standard.
Before you go
- How to use a convenience storeA quick guide to choosing rice balls and hot snacks, buying coffee, paying by cash, IC card, or tap payment, using the eat-in corner, and sorting your trash — the basics for a first visit.
- 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.
- Enjoying a bussanten (regional products fair)A guide to what's sold at a bussanten (regional products fair), how to find one, when it gets crowded, shelf life and taking food home, and how to fit one around a trip.
Dishes in the same style
- DorayakiTwo small round pancakes, similar to castella batter, sandwiching sweet bean paste. The name is said to come from its resemblance to a dora gong, though accounts differ, and the thick, round form known today is said to have settled in only from the Taisho era.
- Imagawayaki / ObanyakiBatter poured into round molds, filled with sweet bean paste, and baked closed. One account traces the name to a shop that sold it near Edo's Imagawa Bridge, and the name is said to already appear in an Edo-period publication from 1777.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Nagasaki
- ArumadoA hard-boiled egg dyed pink is wrapped in fish paste and steamed into a kamaboko log that shows a pink-rimmed cross-section when cut — a Hirado specialty, with kin dishes called "arimado" in Sasebo and "ryugan" in Nagasaki.
- Goto UdonA hand-pulled noodle from Shinkamigoto, Nagasaki. Its technique is thought to trace back to envoys returning from Tang China, and the island's camellia oil is worked into the dough for a smooth, elastic bite.
- HanahajikiCucumber, carrot, deep-fried tofu, and shrimp are cut into strips and fanned out on a plate to be dipped in a hot mustard vinegar-miso — a dish from Isahaya said to be named for how the mustard "flicks the nose," traditionally served at Buddhist memorial services.
- HatoshiShrimp and squid paste sandwiched in bread and deep-fried, a Nagasaki specialty said to have arrived from China in the Meiji era, growing from a shippoku banquet course into a food loved across the city.
- HikadoFish or chicken and vegetables like daikon and carrot are diced fine and simmered, thickened at the end with grated sweet potato — said to originate in a meat stew eaten by Portuguese residents of Nagasaki, its name from the Portuguese word for "minced."
- HikitoshiChicken raised at home is butchered for this Iki hot pot, typically enriched with iki-doufu, a rich local tofu, and firm-boiled somen — said to have begun as a dish served to guests in the inner parlor, its name tracing to "hiki-toshi," leading a guest through.