is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese dumpling

Dumpling

Dumplings are cooked balls of dough. They are based on flour, potatoes or bread, and may include meat, fish, vegetables, or sweets. They may be cooked by boiling, steaming, simmering, frying, or baking. They may have a filling, or there may be other ingredients mixed into the dough. Dumplings may...

 made from a fermented

Fermentation (food)

Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...

 buckwheat

Buckwheat

Buckwheat refers to a variety of plants in the dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, the North American genus Eriogonum, and the Northern Hemisphere genus Fallopia. Either of the latter two may be referred to as "wild buckwheat"...

 dough wrapped around a stuffing of Japanese vegetables, fruit, or anko bean paste

Red bean paste

Red bean paste or Azuki bean paste is a sweet, dark red bean paste originating from China. It is used in Chinese cuisine, Japanese confectionery, and Korean cuisine. It is prepared by boiling and mashing azuki beans and then sweetening the paste with sugar or honey...

 and then roasted on an iron pan. The resulting bun is then either steamed or broiled and eaten hot. Oyaki are popular and widely available in Nagano Prefecture

Nagano Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Nagano.- History :Nagano was formerly known as the province of Shinano...

 which is famous for the dish.

Nagano's oyaki are not to be confused with Imagawayaki

Imagawayaki

is a Japanese dessert often found at festivals, also eaten in Taiwan . It is made of batter in a special pan , and filled with sweet azuki bean paste, although it is becoming increasingly popular to use a wider variety of fillings such as vanilla custard, different fruit...

 which is made from a light batter and is eaten as a dessert, though you can find many stores selling Imagawayaki as Oyaki.

History

Nagano Prefecture's steep mountains and cold climate made rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

 cultivation difficult and produced poor yields in pre-industrial Japan. Farmers in Nagano turned to buckwheat instead. The resulting flour

Flour

Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...

 was then mixed with water and stuffed with local wild vegetables and seasoned with soy sauce

Soy sauce

Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...

 and salt.

External links

• My Home Town and Local Food English language web page describing how oyaki are made at Oyaki Village in Ogawa Village
  Ogawa, Nagano
  is a village located in Kamiminochi District, Nagano, Japan., the village has an estimated population of 3,480 and a density of 59.93 persons per km². The total area is 58.07 km².-External links:*...
  
  , Nagano Prefecture. Oyaki Village website