kamaboko

is made of minced fish and starch. First made by being pressed around a reed grilled them over a fire, it's name likely derives from the cattail read (gamanoho) which kamaboko resembled.

In myth, kamaboko was invented by the Japanese empress Jing' after she came back from her conquest of Korea. (The story is recounted in a mythical and historical account of the foundation of Japan, the Nihonsh'ki.) Empress Jing' minced fish and starch and, pressing them like a sausage around a reed, grilled them over a fire. The name kamaboko might derive from gamanoho (cattail reed), which the original resembles. Whatever the origins of the food, there is good evidence that it was made as early as the Heian period (794'1185 C.E.).

is said to have been invented by the Japanese empress Jingu after she came back from her conquest of Korea.

kamaboko, n.All

kamaboko