# Hikado ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Hikado

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
Nagasaki City

## Main Ingredients Used
Yellowtail, chicken, radish, carrots, dried shiitake mushrooms, sweet potatoes, dried whitebait, spring onion

## History, Origin, and Related Events
A local dish that has been passed down in Nagasaki since the early 1600s. Portuguese missionaries and traders in Nagasaki used to eat stews made with beef and pork during the cold months. The taste gradually spread among the locals, and later on, unique ways of making it using locally grown vegetables, chicken, and fish were established. This is said to be the origin of the version of “hikado” as it is known today.The name “hikado” comes from the Portuguese word “picado,” which means to chop meat into small pieces. It was introduced as one of the Nanban dishes in cookbooks in the mid-Edo period.

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
Locally, similar to stew, it is often eaten as a dish to warm up the body during the cold seasons of autumn and winter. In addition to being served as a home-cooked meal, it is also served at restaurants as part of Shippoku Ryori, a Nagasaki specialty course meal.

## How to Eat
Cut vegetables (radish, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, etc.) and fish (or chicken) into small pieces, simmer, and simply season with soy sauce. Finally, add grated sweet potatoes and bring to a boil to thicken. The sweetness of the sweet potato harmonizes the various ingredients and creates a gentle flavor. It is characterized by the way it is thickened using sweet potato.

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
(Outline of the traditions, the preservation society, social media use, modern approaches at commercialization)"Hikado" is a nutritious dish made with local ingredients and is a cultural dish born out of Nagasaki's unique history of international exchange. Schools across the prefecture are actively working to popularize it as part of their school lunch menus in hopes of passing on this valuable taste to their children.

## Ingredients
- Yellowtail: 80g
- [For seasoning the yellowtail] Salt: just a little
- [For seasoning the yellowtail] Sake: just a little
- Chicken: 80g
- Radish: 80g
- Carrots: 40g
- Sweet potatoes: 80g
- Dried shiitake mushrooms: 4g
- Sweet potato (grated): 60g
- Spring onion: 10g
- Dashi stock and shiitake mushroom stock (from rehydrating the mushrooms): 3 1／2 cups
- [Seasoning] Salt: 1／5 tsp.
- [Seasoning] Light soy sauce: 1 tsp.
- [Seasoning] Sake: 1 tbsp.

## Recipe
1. 1. Cut the yellowtail into 1.5cm cubes and season with salt and a little sake (not listed in the ingredients).
2. 2. Cut the chicken into 1.5cm cubes.
3. 3. Cut the radish and carrot into 1cm cubes, and cut the sweet potato into 1.5cm cubes with the skin still on.
4. 4. Peel the sweet potato for grating and soak it in water for 10 to 15 minutes to remove the scum.
5. 5. Rehydrate the dried shiitake mushrooms with water, remove the stalks, and cut into 1cm cubes.
6. 6. Cut the spring onion into small pieces.
7. 7. Blanch the yellowtail.
8. 8. Add the chicken, radish, carrot, and shiitake mushrooms to a pot with the dashi stock and shiitake mushroom stock and bring to a simmer.
9. 9. When it comes to a boil, remove the scum and add the sweet potato cut into 1cm cubes.
10. 10. Add the yellowtail, adjust to taste with [Seasoning], add the grated sweet potato, and when it thickens, turn off the heat, transfer to a bowl, and sprinkle the spring onion on top.

## Provider Information
provider : Nagasaki City (Third Nagasaki City Food Education Promotion Plan)

![Image](Not found)