Karukan (Kagoshima Steamed Yam and Rice-Flour Cakes)
Cuisine: Japanese
Region: 鹿児島県
Servings: 10個分
Karukan (Kagoshima Steamed Yam and Rice-Flour Cakes) is a home-style dessert. Karukan flour is non-glutinous rice ground fairly coarsely. Ingredients and step-by-step instructions are below, with notes for home cooking.
Ingredients
- 125 g karukan flour
- 100 g yamato-imo (Japanese mountain yam)
- 150 g sugar
- 75 ml water
- 110 g anko (smooth red bean paste)
Steps
- [Prep] Divide the bean paste into 10 portions, roll into balls and press a shallow dip in the centre of each with a fingertip. Bring plenty of water to a boil in a steamer and wrap the lid in a cloth so drips don't fall. Set out the moulds (karukan moulds, or foil or silicone cups).
- Peel the yam and grate it as finely as possible with a suribachi or grater. Work it with a pestle as if kneading to incorporate air, then add the water in 3–4 additions, stretching it out until smooth.
- Add the sugar in two additions, grinding it in well each time. When the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is glossy, add the karukan flour and mix with a rubber spatula until no dry flour remains. It should fall thickly from a spoon.
- Pour the batter into the moulds until a little under half full and set a ball of bean paste on top. Pour the rest of the batter over and smooth it out to the edges with a bamboo skewer so the bean paste is completely hidden.
- Arrange in the steamer once it is billowing steam and steam on high heat for about 25 minutes. They're done when the tops have risen and a skewer comes out clean.
- Unmould once they have cooled slightly. While hot the cakes stick easily, so waiting a little is the secret to a neat finish.
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Notes
Karukan flour is non-glutinous rice ground fairly coarsely. You can substitute joshinko, but the crumb will be a little denser and chewier.
Using jinenjo (wild yam) gives a stronger aroma and a fluffier rise.
Grated yam discolours quickly, so work fast.
Skip the filling, steam in a large square pan and slice it, and you have sao-mono (bar-style) karukan; extend the steaming time to about 40 minutes.
Storage: they dry out easily, so wrap each one in cling film and keep at room temperature until the next day. Frozen, they keep for about 2 weeks; steam them lightly before eating to restore their softness.
Origin and history
Karukan is a pure white, fluffy confection from Kagoshima, made by steaming mountain yam, rice flour and sugar together. It is written with characters meaning "light yokan", said to come from the way the batter becomes light when steamed.
There are various accounts of its creation, but a well-known one credits Yashima Rokubei, a confectioner born in Akashi whom Shimazu Nariakira, the 11th lord of the Satsuma domain, brought from Edo to research preserved foods. The well-drained shirasu volcanic plateau was home to plenty of wild jinenjo, the key ingredient, and sugar was easy to obtain from Amami and the Ryukyus — this is thought to be why the confection took root.
Sugar was precious at the time, however, and for a long time karukan was a "lord's sweet" enjoyed only by daimyo households. It spread to ordinary people after the Meiji era. It is still a classic gift for weddings, funerals and other ceremonies, and karukan manju, filled with bean paste, are a popular souvenir with travellers. Autumn and winter, when new jinenjo comes to market, are even called karukan season.