Delicious Snack Tales – Full of Grandma’s Wisdom – Exploring Oyaki

I’m originally from the eastern region and now residing in the southern part of Nagano District in Japan.

We characterize Nagano by towering mountains giving it the nickname, ‘Japan’s Roof’. The province is long from South to North with mountains with peaks above 3,000meters offering a unique culinary traditions.

I recently discovered the variations of a local specialty known as ‘oyaki’ has different variations throughout the province. Oyaki means “it is baked” in Japanese, and the oyaki I got from the local grandma was a steamed rice flower with red beans…

hmm… ??? So you don’t have to bake it to call it “baked”…?

I did a little research, Shinshu Oyaki can be made by steaming and then baking (steamed), baking to a golden brown on the surface and then steaming (grilled), or just baking and steaming.

Traditions are passed down from generation to generation, with each region having its own characteristics. Oh, how fun.

Referring to Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ websites for research.