Hamatama Town, Karatsu City

Vegetables

Dabu" is a local dish made with chicken and seasonal vegetables, and has been handed down from Saga Prefecture to Fukuoka Prefecture. It is called "dabu" with an accent from the word "zabu" because it is made "zabu-zabu" with a lot of water without using ingredients that easily fall apart. This dish is served at weddings, funerals, and other occasions to which guests are invited, and differences arise in the ingredients and the way they are cut depending on the celebration or mourning. In the Karatsu area, it is popular to cut all ingredients into strips, while konnyaku is cut into triangles for Buddhist ceremonies. For weddings and funerals, lotus root, dried shiitake mushrooms, konnyaku, kikurage, frozen konnyaku, and chicken are used, while fu is added for celebratory occasions. Especially in the Hamadama area, it is made without thickening. In other areas, ingredients are cut into squares and hanafu is used for celebratory events such as marriages and other festive occasions. Some people also do not use sugar for seasoning. Conversely, on occasions of mourning, the ingredients are cut into triangles and sugar is used. The seasoning differs from household to household, but in the past, people in the community, including neighbors, would gather together to jointly make a large quantity at a time.

People in the neighborhood would gather to make the dish on occasions such as weddings, funerals, and other occasions when each family would invite guests. It is also made whenever guests are invited, and is still passed down from generation to generation as a traditional dish.

Cut ingredients such as radish, konnyaku, burdock root, carrot, taro, and baked tofu into 1 cm cubes and prepare them. Add them to the broth and simmer softly, seasoning with salt and light soy sauce. Add temari-fu and ginnan, and thicken with potato starch. Lightly seasoned, the dish can be eaten hot or cold. In some regions, white fish is used instead of chicken.

It is commonly made at home, and can also be enjoyed at restaurants in the prefecture.