Tanakaya Main Store Honmachi Store

(Translated by Google) Tanakaya Main Store Honmachi Store (Chuo Ward, Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture/Nearest station: Niigata) Tanakaya Honten is a Japanese confectionery shop located in the Furumachi area, the traditional center of Niigata City, 10 minutes by car from Niigata Station. Niigata has been a port town that flourished since the Edo period with the Kitamae-bune fleet, and the Furumachi area in the center of the city was surrounded by large and small moats, and the transportation of goods using ships was popular. In addition, Furumachi in Niigata is one of Japan's three major red-light districts, along with Gion in Kyoto and Shinbashi in Tokyo, and is a bustling area with thriving commercial and cultural exchanges. There are many shops scattered around. This "Tanakaya Honten" was founded in 1931 at Furumachi-dori 10-cho, and since 1973 it has expanded to have multiple shops, and currently has two factories in Niigata City. A Japanese sweets manufacturer with 10 directly managed stores. This branch, located in the arcade shopping street of Honmachi-dori 6-cho in Furumachi, was established in 1969. The surrounding area is a corner of Honmachi Market, which has been popular as the kitchen of Niigata citizens for many years, and was once a shopping street lined with street vendors. At this store, we have demonstrations of making and selling sasa dango, and you can purchase freshly made sasa dango at the store. Sasa dango comes in grain and strained bean paste and can be purchased starting from 1 piece (216 yen). They also sell Japanese sweets such as dango, dorayaki, manju, daifuku, and yokan, as well as sekihan, rice balls, rice balls, and persimmon seeds. ``Sasa dango'' is a bag-shaped dumpling made by wrapping mugwort rice cake with red bean paste in bamboo leaves, tying it with sedge or rushwood string, and steaming it. Bamboo leaves are said to have bactericidal and preservative properties, so they are said to have originated as a portable preserved food during the Warring States period, and there is also a theory that Uesugi Kenshin invented them. The color of the bamboo leaves looks dull, but the inside is fresh.The bamboo leaves get this color because they are dried and preserved, soaked in water, rehydrated, wrapped around dumplings, and then steamed. When you remove the string and remove the bamboo leaves like peeling a banana, a dark green, straw-shaped dumpling will emerge. Without removing all the bamboo leaves, leave the last one and hold it vertically, turn half of it over and bite into it. The simple taste of mugwort dumplings and red bean paste is complemented by the refreshing scent of bamboo leaves. They are particular about using no preservatives or coloring agents, but if wrapped in bamboo leaves, they will last for about four days at room temperature. The dumplings will be soft on the day they are freshly steamed, but will gradually become firmer on the second and third day. Some people seem to prefer it harder on the second or third day. Farmers in Niigata used to make dango (dango dumplings) made from chipped waste rice, which cannot be used as tax rice, as an everyday food. Sasa dango was also born out of this custom, and currently they are commonly filled with azuki bean paste, but there are also dango filled with side dishes such as kinpira, and dango without any filling. '', and those with kinpira or nothing in them are called ``men's dango''. This Tanakaya Honten also sells sasa dango made with ``tsubuan'' and ``koshian,'' as well as ``kinpira,'' ``arame (seaweed tsukudani),'' and ``chamame.'' It was recommended as a souvenir for groups at the "Niigata National Athletic Meet" held in 1964, and was first certified as a "recommended specialty product" by Niigata Prefecture and Niigata City. It became known throughout the country as the souvenir sweet Sasadango. There are other Japanese confectionery shops besides Tanakaya Honten that manufacture and sell sasa dango, but since the size of bamboo leaves is not constant, the wrapping process cannot be mechanized, and the craftsmen Because it can only be made by hand, it is difficult to mass-produce it like other Japanese sweets. (Original) 田中屋本店 本町店 （新潟県新潟市中央区／最寄駅：新潟） 新潟駅から車で10分、新潟市の古くからの中心街である古町エリアにある和菓子屋「田中屋本店」。 新潟は江戸時代から北前船で栄えた港町で、市内中心部の古町周辺には大小の堀が張り巡らされ、船を使った物資運搬が盛んだった。 また、新潟の古町は京都の祇園、東京の新橋に並ぶ「日本三大花街」のひとつとして賑わい、商業や文化の交流も盛んだったこともあり、明治時代や大正時代から長く続く老舗の和菓子店が数多く点在している。 こちらの「田中屋本店」は昭和6年(1931年)に古町通10番町で創業し、昭和48年(1973年)から売店の多店舗化を展開し、現在は新潟市内に2つの工場と10店舗の直営店を構える和菓子メーカー。 古町の本町通6番町のアーケード商店街にあるこちらの支店は1969年の創業。周辺は新潟市民の台所として長年親しまれてきた本町市場の一角で、かつては露天商が軒を並べる商店街だったそう。 こちらの店舗では店頭で笹だんごの製造実演販売を行っており、お店で作り立ての笹だんごを購入することが出来る。笹だんごは粒あん、こしあんがあり1個(216円)から購入可能。 その他、団子やどら焼き、まんじゅう、大福、羊羹などの和菓子の他、赤飯やおこわ、おにぎり、柿の種なども販売している。 「笹だんご」は小豆餡の入ったよもぎ餅を笹の葉で包んで、スゲやイグザの紐で結って蒸した俵形のお団子。笹の葉には殺菌作用と防腐効果があることから戦国時代の携行保存食として生まれたと言われており、上杉謙信が発明したという説もあるそうだ。 笹の葉の色はくすんで見えるが中身は新鮮で、乾燥させて保存した笹を水に浸して戻し、団子を包んでから蒸気で蒸し上げるためこのような色になるそうだ。 紐を外してバナナの皮をむくように笹の葉を取り除くと濃い緑色の俵型のお団子が出てくる。笹の葉は全部外さずに最後の一枚を残して縦に持り、半分めくってかじりつくように食べる。よもぎ団子とあんこの素朴な美味しさに笹の葉の清涼感のある香りも加わっている。 保存料や着色料を使わない無添加にこだわっているが、笹の葉で包まれた状態なら常温で4日ぐらいは持つそうだ。当日は蒸したてなので団子が柔らかく、2日目、3日目と段々硬くなっていく。人によっては2日目～3日目の硬い方が好みという人もいるらしい。 新潟の農家では、年貢米にならない欠けたくず米を使って作った団子が日常食として親しまれていた。笹団子もそうした風習の中から生まれ、現在は小豆餡の入ったものが一般的だが、きんぴらなど惣菜を詰めたものや、何も詰めない団子も存在し、あんこが入ったものを「女団子」、きんぴら入りや何も入っていないものを「男団子」と呼ぶそうだ。 こちらの「田中屋本店」でも「つぶあん」と「こしあん」の笹だんごの他に、「きんぴら」「あらめ(海藻の佃煮)」「茶豆」の笹だんごも販売している。 昭和39年(1964年)に開催された「新潟国体」で団体向けのお土産として推薦されたことがきっかけとなって新潟県と新潟市から「推薦特産品」として初認定を受け、「新潟みやげ菓子の笹団子」として全国へ知れ渡るようになった。 こちらの「田中屋本店」以外にも笹団子を製造、販売する和菓子屋が他にもあるが、笹の葉は大きさが一定でないため、基本的に包む工程を機械化することが出来ず、職人が手作業で作るしかないため、他の和菓子のように大量生産することは難しいのだそう。