is a traditional sweet made in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

since the times of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and often sold as a souvenir (

Miyagegashi Miyagegashi, also , refers to a sweet made with the purpose of selling it as a souvenir. As with most other Japanese souvenirs (omiyage), the typical miyagegashi is a regional specialty (meibutsu) and cannot be bought outside its specific geograph ...

). It is a small

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...

made of mostly

lard Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
entry in the o ...

and

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

, with a mild and sweet flavor similar to shortbread.

Origin

The precise origin of Chinsuko is unclear, but multiple baked confections of the time are seen as possible candidates of inspiration. Taosu (桃酥) is a flour-based

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

traditional cookie that is very similar to Chinsuko.Study. Super-Chinese.com. “Chinese Traditional Cookies Taosu.” China Lab. China Lab, 10 March 2013. Web. 30 April 2016. Castella, a

sponge cake Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated ...

variant brought over by Portuguese merchants which was adopted into both Chinese and Japanese cuisine is another contender. Spanish

Polvorón A polvorón (From , the Spanish word for powder, or dust) is a type of heavy, soft, and very crumbly Spanish shortbread made of flour, sugar, milk, and nuts (especially almonds). They are mostly produced in Andalusia, where there are about 70 ...

has much in common with Chinsuko in terms of texture as well as ingredients. Another theory has Chinsuko as the result of attempts to replicate Portuguese ''bolo'' as brought over by the

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

using materials available in Okinawa.

References

Shuri-Naha Dialect Dictionary
at

University of the Ryukyus The , abbreviated to , is a Japanese national university in Nishihara, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Established in 1950, it is the westernmost national university of Japan and the largest public university in Okinawa Prefecture. Located in the S ...

Japanese desserts and sweets Okinawan cuisine Culture articles needing translation from Japanese Wikipedia {{confection-stub