🍱 Miso-dengaku (Miso Stick)

Tofu is said to have been introduced from China as early as the Nara and Heian periods, and was eaten by aristocrats and warrior families as a valuable protein source in vegetarian cuisine. The Edo period (1603-1867) tofu cookbook "Tofu Hyakuchin" introduced many tofu dishes, including "dengaku," which is made by cutting tofu, skewering it, and grilling it. Since around the middle of the Heian period (794-1185), there was a custom in farming villages of dancing in the rice paddies to the beat of drums during rice planting season, which was called dengaku-mai. The dengaku-houshi who performed this dengaku-mai always wore a white hakama and colored jacket and danced on a stick, which is said to have been called "miso-dengaku" or "dengaku" because of its resemblance to a tofu dish made of white tofu topped with miso and grilled on a skewer. Miso dengaku in Aichi has a long history, and its characteristics vary from region to region. In the Mikawa area, "nameshi dengaku," which is a combination of nameshi(rice with greens) and dengaku, is a specialty, while in the Owari area, "fu dengaku," which is deep-fried fu coated with red miso paste, is a specialty. "Nameshi dengaku" was also a specialty at some inn towns along the Tokaido pathway during the Edo period.