Taiyaki - [Foodlore]

Taiyaki - [Foodlore] - "鯛焼き"  "baked sea bream"

• About: a "Big Catch" ("大漁") at festivals & matsuri events. A snapper shaped waffle-cake, Tasty stuffed pastrys with any number of scrumptious fillings; from creamy custard, to sweet anko (azuki bean paste) to savoury sausages, fish, and rarely even cheese, chocolate, ice cream or fruit! Taiyaki is often served at matsuri either hot off the grill in the winter (& ready in less than 30 seconds) often It's served chilled in the summertime, used as a cone to support a delicious dollop of soft serve ice cream, the possibilities are truly endless!!

• History: It’s believed that Taiyaki was first created in the late Meiji period (approx 1909) where in the founder of Naniwaya Souhonten, a shop in Minato City, Tokyo. - They wanted to create a sweet treat & new confection which was inspired by imagawa-yaki (a simple coin shaped pastry filled with red bean paste, somewhat similar to dorayaki.) - The buns weren't selling very well on their own, That is at least, until the founder began experimenting with various shapes & eventually landed on the fish; which proved to be a big hit!! (Given that Tokyo used to be a fishing town it just made sense.) - Red Tai is very popular among fishermen, it’s seen as an auspicious fish; for both its size and color. Red tai featured heavily in edo period artwork and was particularly popular in Gyotaku (fish prints) and especially on fishing flags (Tairyō-bata) Often used to signal a "BIG CATCH" (大漁) as such, the fish itself is synonymous with good luck and an abundant haul!

[an edo period print of a man selling "imagawa-yaki",  "Seto Fuzoku Tudokai by Shimizu Harufu" - National Diet Library Collection.]

[a BIG CATCH fishing flag as seen in animal crossing]

[an edo period red tai print]

See also: Kibuna, Taiyaki

[Art sticker by samkalensky part of my foodlore collection of stickers, just the base flavor available for now maybe i'll do alternate toppings in future :)]