Inarizushi

Named for Inari Ōkami, the Shinto deity of rice and agriculture, whose fox messengers (kitsune) were said to favor aburaage; the offering practice predates the modern dish. Inarizushi as a portable food took off in the 1850s during the Bakumatsu period, when street vendors in Nagoya and Aichi began selling cone-shaped pouches as cheap fast food. Eastern Japan favors rectangular pouches, western Japan triangular — the regional split persists today.

Named for Inari Ōkami, Shinto deity of rice — fox-messenger offering practice predates the dish. Took off as Bakumatsu (1850s) Nagoya street food. Aburaage must be par-boiled to strip surface oil first, or the simmer never penetrates and the pouch tastes greasy.

Sweet-savory aburaage pouches — deep-fried tofu skin simmered in shoyu, mirin, sugar, dashi until amber and dripping — packed with vinegared sushi rice, sometimes with sesame, lotus root, or chopped pickled ginger mixed in. Eat in two bites; juice from the pouch runs into the rice. Room temperature, not cold. The ratio that matters: pouch's sweet-salt to rice's vinegar-sweet, in balance.

The aburaage must be par-boiled or rubbed with hot water first to strip surface oil; otherwise the simmering liquid won't penetrate and the pouch tastes oily, not sweet. Squeeze pouches gently after simmering — they should drip but not pour. The rice goes in slightly under-packed, since rice expands as it absorbs pouch juice; over-stuffed inari splits open within an hour.