🍱 Gane

“Gane" is a local dish made from sweet potatoes, a specialty of Kagoshima Prefecture. Kagoshima Prefecture is the number one producer of sweet potatoes in Japan. Although Kagoshima Prefecture is blessed with a mild climate, most of the prefecture, with the exception of Mount Kirishima, is on the Shirasu Plateau, which is very well drained, but is prone to crop damage caused by frequent typhoons. Because of this background, the cultivation of sweet potatoes, which are easy to grow even in barren soil and grow underground, and are therefore less vulnerable to typhoon damage, has taken strong root in Kagoshima Prefecture. There are many theories about the introduction of sweet potatoes, but Tanegashima Hisamoto, the lord of Tanegashima Island, sent some people on an errand to Ryukyu in 1698 and brought back sweet potatoes. Later, in 1705, Maeda Riemon, a sailor from Yamakawa, cultivated sweet potatoes in his own field and distributed them to his neighbors; then they became popular and spread throughout Kagoshima Prefecture. There was a time when they were called "Koukou imo (filial piety sweet potatoes)" because they had large yields and were the best food for the poor. Kurobuta pork, which is a specialty product of Kagoshima Prefecture, is known to be raised with sweet potatoes mixed in its feed. Sweet potato shochu, which is a spirit made from sweet potatoes, is also a specialty of Kagoshima. In short, sweet potatoes are an important ingredient in supporting the food culture of Kagoshima Prefecture. Therefore, there are many local dishes using sweet potatoes. One of them is "Gane". “Gane” is a dish in which sweet potatoes and vegetables are cut into thick strips, dipped in a batter and fried. It was named so because it looks like a crab (called "gane" in Kagoshima dialect). It is characterized by a sweet taste with a lot of sugar, and the ingredients and batter vary from region to region.