It is said that, when the gintsuba recipe introduced from Kyoto to Edo, wheat flour was substituted for rice flour for the batter and the name was changed to kintsuba (golden sword guards) as gold is more valuable than silver.
製法が京都から江戸に伝わると、「銀よりも金のほうが景気が良い」との理由から、材料が小麦粉に、また名前が「きんつば」に変わったとされている。