🍱 Tofu Dengaku

As the climate in northern region is cold and it's hard to cultivate rice, they cultivated soybeans, which can grow in the harsh climate. Tofu is very nutritious and known as ‘meat from fields, so it was used often. There used to be a custom to make tofu at home. They exchanged tofu when they made one too much' and there are many occasions to eat tofu, which have tofu culture take root. Home-made tofu was used in various menus, like simmered dish, soup, ‘shira-ae' salad, hot pot and so on. They froze tofu in winter to keep ones until spring. Tofu is still eaten a lot in Iwate Prefecture, and the consumption of tofu per home is high in the prefecture. ‘Tofu Dengaku' is a dish of grilled firm tofu cut into rectangular and skewered with bamboo skewer, then grilled over charcoal and put garlic miso to serve. You can enjoy toasty flavor and smell of garlic. The skewers are often made from branches of staphylea pinnata. Ingredient mixed with miso varies in season; garlic is mixed in winter, ‘fukinotou' (Japanese butterbur) in spring and leaves of Japanese pepper in early summer.