Akita Kamabuku
Quick answer
- Total time
- 180 min
- Level
- Hard
- Servings
- 50 servings
- Ingredients
- 11
About this dish
White dough of potato and rice flour is layered with a red-bean potato dough, rolled into a spiral, and steamed, so every cooled slice shows a crisp white and red-brown swirl.
Read more
Kamabuku comes from inland mountain communities in Akita where fish was hard to obtain, which is why it was shaped like kamaboko fish cake; it was sliced for New Year, ceremonies, and sports days.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Divide 6000ml boiling water between 2 large pots.
Boil 1500g white-dough potatoes and 250g red-bean-dough potatoes separately for 25 to 35 minutes. When a skewer enters the centers easily, drain and peel while hot.
- 2
Rice the white-dough potatoes until smooth and mix with 1000g white-dough sugar and 2 teaspoons salt for 3 minutes.
Add 800g glutinous rice flour and 600g non-glutinous rice flour and knead for 10 minutes until no dry flour remains.
- 3
Mash the red-bean-dough potatoes smooth and mix with 1000g sugar and 0.25 teaspoon salt for 3 minutes.
Work in 500g smooth red bean paste, then add 500g glutinous rice flour and knead for 8 minutes until cohesive with no dry flour.
- 4
Divide each dough into 4 portions.
Roll one white portion to 35 by 22cm and 1cm thick; roll one red-bean portion thinly to the same length and width and layer it on top. Roll tightly from a long edge. Repeat to make 4 spiral logs.
- 5
Wrap each log loosely in steam-permeable cloth and space them in a steamer.
Steam for 90 minutes with a steady strong flow of steam, topping up the steamer with boiling water if its level drops.
- 6
Remove when the centers are firm and translucent with no visible dry rice flour.
Unwrap, cool completely at room temperature for 2 hours, and cut 1.5cm thick with a damp knife, displaying the spiral cross sections.
References checked
These references were consulted when this page was prepared or corrected. A source check does not mean the recipe was independently kitchen-tested.
- 일본 농림수산성 うちの郷土料理
『あきた郷味風土記』（秋田県農山漁村生活研究グループ協議会） · Checked: 2026-08-11
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