Suiton

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Suiton (水団 or すいとん) is a simple Japanese dumpling dish. Dough is cut by hand into small pieces, rolled, and then boiled in soup. It’s also called water dumpling.

Origin and history
Its roots go back to the Muromachi period as mizu-dango. The hand-cut form we know today appeared in the late Edo period. From the Edo era to before World War II, stalls and restaurants sold suiton and it was a popular food for ordinary people. After the Great Kanto Earthquake, stalls appeared again in burned areas as food shortages grew.

How it’s made
Suiton is a dumpling made from crushed grains and gluten-containing ingredients, formed into dough and dropped into hot water or soup to cook. The exact method and how you eat it vary by cook and region. You can make simple dumplings in hot water, eat it in zoni with miso soup, or enjoy it in a simple broth.

Regional names and variations
The dish is known nationwide under various names, including hittsumi, hatto, tsumeri, tottenage, odansu, and hinnobe. These foods are similar to suiton but differ in ingredients, the broth or dashi used, and how they’re cooked. Even within the same region, methods and names can vary by district or household.

Example of different methods
In the northern area from Miyagi to Iwate, hatto is made by kneading flour dough with cool water and then stretching it into small pieces like noodles. In Aomori and Iwate, the way the dough is divided and prepared can be different.