A samurai warlord who named a sweet on the spot. A sushi roll named after a water goblin's favorite snack.
Twelve more food facts from Ayatoki's Food genre.
12 Food Facts
01
Uguisu Mochi
According to tradition, this sweet was first presented to the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi during his visit to Yamato-Koriyama in 1585. He liked it so much he supposedly named it himself — "uguisu mochi," after the bush warbler (uguisu), for its pale green color.
02
Kappa Maki
A thin sushi roll filled with cucumber. Its name comes from folklore that cucumbers are the favorite food of the kappa, a water-dwelling goblin from Japanese legend. It's a popular palate-cleanser between richer, fattier cuts of fish at sushi restaurants.
03
Katsu Curry
A distinctly Japanese dish combining a breaded, fried cutlet with curry rice. It's said to have been invented in 1948 at Grill Swiss, a Western-style restaurant in Tokyo's Ginza district.
04
Miso Ramen
A ramen dish built around a broth of dissolved fermented soybean paste. It was born in Sapporo, Hokkaido, sometime in the 1950s, and became famous as a way to warm up in one of Japan's coldest cities.
05
Straw-Wrapped Natto
A traditional style of fermented soybeans wrapped in rice straw. The natto bacteria naturally present on the straw itself does the fermenting — meaning in the old days, all you needed to make natto was some straw.
06
Uguisu-an
A green sweet bean paste made from green peas — not matcha, as many assume. It's named after the same bush warbler (uguisu) as uguisu mochi, for its similar pale green feathers.
07
Peking Duck
A single duck is said to yield about 120 slices of crispy skin. Chefs achieve the signature crackle by using a special air pump to separate the skin from the meat before roasting.
08
Peach Melba
Created around 1893 by French chef Auguste Escoffier in honor of the Australian opera singer Nellie Melba. The combination of peaches and ice cream is still served around the world under her name today.
09
Sriracha Sauce
A hot sauce of red chili, garlic, and vinegar that originated in Thailand. The green-capped bottle produced by California's Huy Fong Foods has become the version most recognized worldwide.
10
Salad Chicken
First commercialized in 2001 by Amatake, a food company in Iwate Prefecture. A skinless, lower-fat version launched in 2014 rode Japan's growing health-food trend and turned it into a convenience-store staple.
11
Tokoroten
A jelly-like food made by boiling down a type of seaweed called tengusa. Records show it was already being presented as a tribute to the imperial court in the Nara period, giving it a documented history stretching back well over 1,000 years.
12
Cottage Pie
A British home-cooked dish of ground beef in a savory sauce, topped with layers of mashed potato and cheese and baked. It's said to have originated at a time when flour was expensive, leading cooks to substitute a cheap, abundant crop — the potato — for a traditional pastry crust.