🍱 Rokubei

A local dish that has been passed down since the Edo Period in the Shimabara and Tsushima areas. Although there are slight differences in how it's cooked, in both regions it's a dish made by kneading flour made from sweet potatoes into an udon-like shape and putting it in a broth. In the Shimabara region in 1792, Mount Mayuyama collapsed due to a volcanic earthquake, causing a large amount of earth and sand to flow into the Ariake Sea, generating a tsunami. It widely swept across the coast, ravaging entire farmlands and causing famine. The people in the area survived hunger mainly by eating sweet potatoes, which can grow even in barren land. The origin of the dish is that a man named Rokubei of Fukae Village (present-day Fukae Town, Minamishimabara City) devised an udon-like dish by mixing the powder of preserved sweet potatoes with yams, which act as a binder. This delighted many people. This is said to be the beginning of “rokubei” in Shimabara. In Tsushima the main ingredient for rokubei is sen, a preserved food made by fermenting sweet potatoes. The sweet potato is called kokoimo (filial piety) because it saved the islanders from starvation.