Ikinari Dango

A thick slice of raw sweet potato and a spoonful of sweet bean paste, wrapped in a plain wheat dough and steamed. That is all of it. The name means suddenly, and the two explanations offered locally are that it can be made suddenly when a guest arrives, and that it is made from ingredients a household always had.

It is a farmhouse snack rather than a confection — no sugar in the dough, the sweetness coming from the potato and the bean paste, and it is heavy enough to be a meal. Kumamoto grows a great deal of sweet potato and this is what happened to it. Shops across the prefecture sell it hot from the steamer, and it is best within a few hours, which is the argument for eating it here rather than carrying it home.