🍲 Damako nabe

A local dish made at home and indispensable in winter in Akita, it consists of chicken, vegetables, and rice dumplings poked in a mortar and pestle in a chicken broth. It is said to have originated in the Minami-Aki region around Hachirogata. Originally, damako nabe was called "tsukego," a dish containing grilled fish such as wakasagi, crucian carp and whitebait, all of which are the produce of Hachiro Lagoon, and seasoned with miso. However, as the Hachiro Lagoon was reclaimed and the catch of fish drastically decreased, people began to turn away from fish and chicken bones and meat were used in place of fish. In Akita, children's plaything "otedama" is called "damaiko." Freshly cooked rice is placed in a mortar and pestle, and the damaiko is then crushed with a wooden pestle and balled up in the palm of the hand. It is said that the name "dumako" came from its resemblance to a rice dumpling, or otedama. There is also a theory that because the dumplings were so tasty that children would eat them with great enthusiasm, the word "damako" came to be used to describe a child who eats silently.