Hiyayakko (冷奴 cold tofu) is a popular Japanese dish made with chilled tofu and toppings. It is usually served during the summer season. There are two kinds of tofu used in hiyayakko: kinugoshi (silken), which is more frequently used, and the less common momen (cotton).
Hiyayakko can be served with ordinary meals or with beer. It is best made with fresh tofu. In winter, boiled tofu (湯豆腐 yudofu) is served more often than hiyayakko.
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The choice of toppings on the tofu vary among households and restaurants, but a standard combination is chopped green onion with katsuobushi (dried skipjack tuna flakes) and soy sauce. Other toppings include:
Hiyayakko is also known as hiyakko or yakko-dōfu. Hiya means cold, and yakko refers to the servants of samurai during the Edo period in Japan. They wore a vest on which the "nail-puller crest" was attached, on the shoulders, therefore cutting something (e.g. tofu) into cubes was called "cutting into yakko" (奴に切る yakko ni kiru). "Hiyakkoi" or "hyakkoi", the Tokyo dialectal term equivalent to the standard Japanese "hiyayaka" (冷ややか), is also a possible etymology.[1]
In the Tofu Hyakuchin (豆腐百珍), it is said that hiyayakko is so well-known that it needs no introduction.
In haiku, hiyayakko is a season word for summer.
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