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Shiratama white dumplings
***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All summer
***** Category: Humanity
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Explanation
Shiratama 白玉 (しらたま) Shiratama Dango
"white treasure, white pearls"
They make you feel cool in summer and are often served in a glass bowl to enhance the cool feeling. They are a snack taken between meals, sometimes as a desert. Sweet brown-sugar syrup is poored over the chilled dumplings.
They can be combined with fruit, red azuki beans, ice cream or jelly. They usually imply a snack during the daytime.
Most popular is a serving in sweet azuki soup (shiruko).
They are made from special flour, Shiratamako 白玉粉.
glutinous rice flour. It is quite lumpy when dissolved in water and must be kneaded thoroughly for making dumplings.
. WASHOKU
Dumplings of all kinds
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shiratama uri 白玉売 vendor of Shiratama
from the magazine Morisada Mankoo 守貞漫稿
In Edo, these vendors walk along, selling Shiratama and cold water (hiyamizu 「冷水（ひやみず）). The vendor scoops cold water from a well in the morning and starts his business. The dumplings were made of kanzarashiko flour 寒晒粉 (another name for Shiratamako). They were put in a bowl, covered with cold water and some brown sugar then sprinkled on top of them.
One bowl was sold for 4 mon.
Walking along the streets, the vendor would call
ひやつこい ひやつこい hiyakkoi hiyakkoi
Here comes the cold delight !
Some vendors sold only cold water with sugar
satoo mizu uri 砂糖水売り
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夕涼花火賑 : 歌川国周画
http://www.kabuki-za.com/syoku/2/no114.html
On this woodblock from 1870 by Utagawa Kunichika you can see three men enjoying the firework display at the bridge Ryogokubashi. They are three actors, the name of each one is mentioned.
From the left they are Ueo Kikugoro 五代目尾上菊五郎、
Nakamura Shikan 四代目中村芝翫 and Sawamura 二代目澤村訥升.
Kikugoro is dressed in the robes of a vendor of Shiratama.
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Worldwide use
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Things found on the way
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HAIKU and SENRYU
白玉にとけのこりたる砂糖かな
shiratama ni toke-nokoritaru satoo kana
on the Shiratama
it has not yet dissolved -
this sugar
. 高浜虚子 Takahama Kyoshi
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白玉や愛す人にも嘘ついて
shiratama ya aisu hito nimo uso tsuite
sweet rice dumplings---
even to my love
a little white lie
Suzuki Masajo 鈴木真砂女
1969
CLICK on the thumbnail
to see the image and text of Nakamura Sakuo.
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Related words
***** . hiyashi shiruko 冷し汁粉（ひやししるこ）sweets with red beans
***** WAGASHI
Sweets Saijiki
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