Yaseuma - Oita's traditions told through unassuming food

Have you ever heard of Yaseuma? I didn’t know about it before coming here to Oita. Then I was quite surprised to find out what it was.

Yaseuma is one of Oita’s traditional snacks. The dish is made up of thick wheat noodles topped with roasted soybean powder (kinako) and sugar. It’s part of Oita’s long-standing tradition of cultivating grains and eating flour-based foods.

There are various theories on Yaseuma’s unique name. For many people, ‘Yaseuma’ means ‘scrawny horse’, and this has to do with how horses were reared in the past. Apparently Japanese horses used to be fed a diet of rice flour. Along the way, people discovered that giving them wheat flour instead would make them slim down. This piece of anecdote, coupled with the fact that Yaseuma noodles are made from wheat flour, gave birth to the name ‘Yaseuma’.

Another likely theory attributes the creation to a contemporary woman named Yase. ‘Uma’ is childspeak for ‘omanma’ meaning food. By that logic, ‘Yase, uma’ was Yase’s child’s way of telling her they were hungry. Whenever that happened, she would make them some Yaseuma, and canonically that was how it came about.

But what about the taste? I'm sure you're dying to know. Worry not because I've put together a simple recipe for you.

Yaseuma noodles and kinako

Quick Yaseuma recipe

You’ll need:

Yaseuma (you can find fresh Yaseuma at your local supermarket)

Roasted soybean powder (Kinako)

Sugar

Salt

Brown sugar syrup

Instructions:

1. In a pan, boil the noodles for 2 to 3 minutes

2. Take out and let cool down

3. Once the noodles reach room temperature, mix in kinako, sugar, and a little bit of salt.

4. Drizzle on brown sugar syrup (to taste) ♡

I recommend making this if you are looking for a light and healthy snack. I personally like it with lots of kinako. Care to give it a try?