🍡 Tofu Dengaku (Grilled Tofu Dressed With Sweet Miso Paste)

The Iga region, surrounded by mountains, used to be an area where seafood was scarce. Therefore, tofu, made from processed beans, was a crucial source of nutrition. Tofu is believed to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan by Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty. During the Heian period, the aristocracy is said to have eaten tofu, which was referred to as "okabe" in a wives' tale. However, it wasn't until the Edo period that tofu became widely available to the general public. At that time, farmers had a custom of dancing to taiko drums in the rice paddies during rice planting and festivals. This dance, known as "dengaku-mai" (dengaku dance), is said to have inspired the name "tofu dengaku." The Iga region is the birthplace of Kan'ami and Ze'ami, who are associated with Noh drama. The dance resembles a skewered tofu dancer dressed in white and dancing on a one-legged stick. It is thought to have been named "tofu dengaku" because the skewered tofu resembles the Takashoku dance, in which the dancers are dressed in white and dance with a single stick. Shisei Tanigawa mentioned the word "dengaku" in his "Wakun Shiori" (Book of Japanese Precepts). According to the book, "The name 'dengaku' is derived from the fact that it resembles the appearance of a dengaku master dancing on a pole.” That's why the name has remained unchanged from the late Edo period to the present.