# Decchi-yokan ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Decchi-yokan

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
The entire prefecture

## Main Ingredients Used
Red bean paste, wheat flour, bamboo skin, and water

## History, Origin, and Related Events
Dōchi-yokan is a specialty of Shiga Prefecture, made by steaming wheat flour (or rice powder) mixed with a paste made from red beans and sugar. Another characteristic is that the yokan is wrapped in bamboo skin, and with a faint scent of bamboo, a springy texture, and a simple taste, this yokan is popular. When making kneaded yokan, agar is used, but it is said that wheat flour was used as a binding agent instead of agar because it was difficult to obtain in Omi, where there is no direct access to the sea. However, in the Shigaraki region, decchi-yokan refers to mizu-yokan hardened with agar.There is a theory that the name “decchi-yokan” came from the fact that it was an inexpensive confectionery that even apprentices (“decchi” in Japanese) with low wages could purchase when apprentices who had come from the Omihachiman area to serve in Osaka, Kanto, and other places all over the country returned to their parents' homes. There is also a theory that when these apprentices returned to their hometowns, they made yokan, which they then brought back to the masters and clerks they were serving as a souvenir, and it was received with joy. There are various other theories as well, such as the fact that kneading is also called “decchiru” in confectionery store terminology and the process of kneading red bean paste and wheat flour together led to it being called “decchi-yokan.” In addition, apprentices served merchant families with the goal of becoming merchants themselves in the future.In 1998, this specialty of Shiga Prefecture, decchi-yokan, was selected as a “property of Shiga’s food culture,” an intangible folk cultural property of Shiga Prefecture.

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
The reasonable price makes it popular as a souvenir, and there are shops selling it all in various places, so it can be eaten all year round.

## How to Eat
The wheat flour is mixed into the red bean paste and kneaded well. The red bean paste dough is placed on a bamboo skin that has been moistened with water and the bamboo skin is folded. After wrapping the bean paste dough, tie it with a bamboo string, put it in a steamer, and steam it. After removing it from the steamer, lightly weigh it down while it is still hot to flatten it.

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
It used to be made in many households because it can be easily made with ingredients that can be found anywhere, but in recent years, many households have switched to purchasing it. It is available at manufacturers’ stores and supermarkets, and some stores’ versions contain chestnuts.

## Ingredients
- Smooth red bean paste: 400g
- Wheat flour: 80g
- Water: Around 50ml
- Bamboo skin: 4 pieces

## Recipe
1. 1. Soak the bamboo skins in water.
2. 2. Add water little by little (around 50ml) to the smooth red bean paste to make it softer.
3. 3. Sift the wheat flour into the red bean paste, mix well, and divide into four equal parts.
4. 4. After wiping the water off the bamboo skins, split the edges of the skins for the strings and spread 1／4 of the red bean paste on the center of each skin.
5. 5. Fold the bamboo skins to wrap up the bean paste dough and tie them with bamboo strings.
6. 6. Put the bamboo skins holding the bean paste dough in a steamer, and after boiling, steam for about 15 minutes.
7. 7. When they are steamed, lightly put weights on them while they are still hot to flatten them.
8. 8. After cooling down, cut the yokan and serve.

## Provider Information
provider : Recipe provider name: Shiga Food Culture Study Group

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