🍱 Gane

“Gane” is a traditional dish from Minamikyushu of Kagoshima prefecture and Miyakonojo city of Miyazaki prefecture. “Gane” means crab in the local dialect. Sweet potatoes are julienned and dipped in batter made with wheat flour. After that, the mixture is deep fried, and the finished dish resembles a crab which is how it got its name. Other ingredients such as carrots, Gobou(=Burdock root), and onions are used, and the recipe differs depending on the family that makes it. This dish has been homemade and served to children as snacks for years. Sweet potatoes grown in this region were also a source of food for domestic animals such as cows and horses. People grew large amounts of sweet potatoes as a substitute for rice as they were sweet and delicious and grew well in the climate. The seeds of sweet potatoes were planted each May, and the vegetables were harvested just before the frost came. Along with the sweet potatoes, Gobou(=Burdock root) and garlic chives were julienned and dipped in a batter made with buckwheat flour, water, soy sauce and sugar and then deep fried.