Summer Wagashi: Crochet Ayugashi Amigurumi・夏の和菓子: かぎ針編み鮎菓子

Ah, June. The weather here in Singapore is still unseasonably hot, and I can't help but think of summer in Japan. And summer is the season for ayu鮎, a freshwater river fish also called sweetfish or sweet smelt. Ayu has been a kigo季語 for summer in Japanese literature as far back as the Man'yōshū. Since ancient times, ayu has also been prized in Japanese cuisine for its fragrant aroma and sweet flesh. It is tastiest when in season from late spring to midsummer. All over Japan, from summer festival food stalls to ryokan inns and restaurants, ayu is served. As ayu is representative of summer in Japan, I decided to make ayugashi鮎菓子 as the wagashi amigurumi for June. A summer wagashi, ayugashi is also sometimes called waka ayu若鮎 (literally "young sweetfish") and is so named because it is shaped to resemble ayu sweetfish.

Crochet ayugashi for the summer in June (IG post)

Ayugashi traditionally consists of a soft castella crepe folded over gyūhi mochi求肥餅 filling. The crepe is branded with a hot iron to give it the features of a fish, e.g. eyes, gills and fins. As the crepe is cooked on a hot griddle pan, ayugashi is a type of yakigashi焼き菓子, meaning it is a baked confection. Familiar confections that hail from the same category include castella, dorayakiどら焼き, imagawayaki今川焼き and taiyaki鯛焼き.

I have attempted to replicate the real thing as much as I can in my ayugashi amigurumi. The crochet crepe is joined together in the middle, but I left each end (the head and tail) open, like the actual confection itself. Inside the crochet crepe is a crochet gyūhi mochi which can be just barely seen from the 'head' of the amigurumi. I used dark brown stranded embroidery thread to stitch on the features on the amigurumi, using French knots for the eyes and stem stitch for the rest.

While making this, I couldn't help but think about how they would look on this super kawaii Kutani En kitty plate that we bought at the Kutani pottery village during our May trip (IG story). The adorably wicked looks of the cats...

Crochet ayugashi - crochet crepe folded over a tube of crochet gyūhi mochi (IG post)

While I have not eaten ayugashi before, I've had ayu a few times in Japan. Thinking back, some of the best ayu I've eaten would be the waka ayu at Tempura Motoyoshi on our May visit (IG story). Ah! that burst of bitter before the sweet flesh, the crisp batter enveloping the soft fluffy fish... And then there was that fragrant, juicy grilled ayu at Kanda in the summer of 2018.

An unforgettably delicious waka ayu at Tempura Motoyoshi, May 2023.

Food was not the only inspiration for this ayugashi amigurumi. When I was thinking about what to make for June, these beginning lines of a chōka by 8th century statesman and poet Ōtomo no Yakamochi came to mind:

大君おほきみの　遠とほの朝廷みかどぞ　み雪降ゆきふる　越こしと名なに追おへる　天離あまざかる　鄙ひなにしあれば　山高やまたかみ　川かはとほしろし　野のを広ひろみ　草くさこそ茂しげき　鮎あゆ走はしる　夏なつの盛さかりと　島しまつ鳥とり　鵜養うかひが伴ともは　行ゆく川かはの　清きよき瀬せごとに　篝かがりさし　なづさひ上る…　(大伴家持『万葉集』第17巻4011番歌)

In English, it kind of means:

Distant from the court / of my great imperial lord; beautiful snow falls / in this domain named Koshi; / cut off from heaven / here in this rustic place where / the mountains are high, / the rivers are vast and great; / wide are the plains where / the grasses grow lush and dense; / when the sweetfish run / in multitudes in summer, / the island birds and / the cormorant fishers are / on the clear rapids / of the flowing river, / lighting torches as / they sail up the river stream... (Ōtomo no Yakamochi, Man'yōshū, Book 17, Poem 4011)

I say "kind of means" because in Japanese, it's common for words and phrases to have many nuanced or multiple meanings. A little like euphemisms and elliptical references. For example, the heavens (天) can literally mean the sky or the heavenly realm, or can metaphorically mean the Emperor (天皇 tennou) or the Imperial court. The word 離 hana can mean distant/far away, separated from, or apart from, implying being far away in terms of distance, or being kept apart, estranged or alienated.

Crochet ayugashi for the summer in June (IG post)

In the chōka that I quoted above, Ōtomo mentioned ukai鵜養 in conjunction with ayu in the summer. In classical Japanese literature, ayu is sometimes mentioned with ukai, an ancient tradition of cormorant fishing that is around 1,300 years old, and can be traced back to the 7th century, as it was documented in the Chinese Book of Sui (c.629-636 AD) as a fishing method used in China and Japan (Wa倭). And when it comes to ukai, Gifu inevitably comes to mind. In Japan, this ancient practice continues in only 13 cities, with Gifu being the most well known due to ukai fishing on the Nagara River. It is a popular tourist attraction in summer. Nagara River ayu is also famous thanks to a haiku Bashō芭蕉 wrote in summer 1688:

又やたぐひ　長良の川の　鮎膾
Mata ya tagui / Nagara no kawa no / ayu namasu

which has been translated to:

Nothing compares / to Nagara's river of / pickled sweet smelt (Jane Reichhold)
Once again — this rare / pickled sweetfish / from river Nagaragawa (Gabi Greve)

(Neither translation seems to fully capture the image evoked by the original...)

Notable patrons of Nagara River ukai included Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu and of course the Japanese Imperial family. The Imperial family have been patrons since ancient times, and the Nagara River usho (ukai fisherfolk) were officially appointed to continue the tradition of ukai. The ayu caught on the designated Imperial fishing grounds on the Nagara River are offered to the Imperial family, the Meiji Shrine and the Ise Shrine.

With such a long history, Imperial patronage and a Basho haiku, it's no wonder ayu is considered to be a symbol of the Nagara River. And so, it's not surprising that ayugashi is one of Gifu's specialties. But there is also a speculation that ayugashi may have its origins in 16th century Gifu when it was under the rule of Oda Nobunaga. It was documented that Oda entertained his guests with confections similar to Japanese style crepes and gyūhi mochi, and thus the speculation that these may have developed into the present-day ayugashi. Maybe not so farfetched as Oda was known for his love of sweets, as well as his interest in the Western confections introduced to Japan by Christian missionaries. These were known as Nanban-gashi南蛮菓子 and included castella, which had been introduced to Japan by the Portuguese, along with refined sugar, in the early 16th century via trade in Nagasaki through Dejima. Speaking of Oda Nobunaga reminds me of some pop culture trivia: Oda's interest in Nanban-gashi and entertaining foreign guests were featured in the manga Nobunaga no Chef信長のシェフ.

The ayugashi at Ryokushou, scene from Deaimon, season 1 episode 3 (at 00:17:54).

Ayugashi also appeared in Deaimonであいもん, a heart-warming slice of life set in a wagashi-ya. It's more light-hearted than Watashi-tachi wa Douka Shiteiru私たちはどうかしている but also features wagashi in the story.

All that inspiration and after making this ayugashi amigurumi, another wagashi has been added to my Want To Eat list...

On a final note before I sign off... the wagashi amigurumi for July is one that I've had planned for a few months now! It is a traditional wagashi that is associated with an East Asian legend about a pair of star-crossed lovers. Until then...mata neまたね!

I sometimes still dream of this ayu sweetfish we ate at Nihonryori Kanda, August 2018.