Shigureni (時雨煮)
Shigureni (seafood or meat that has been cooked in soy sauce and mirin) is a kind of tsukudani (small fish, shellfish, konbu (a kind of kelp used for Japanese soup stock), etc. boiled in sweetened soy sauce) cooked with ginger. Shucked shellfish and beef, etc. are used as an ingredient.
Originally, Shigureni only meant 'Shigure Hamaguri,' a tsukudani of clams that is a noted product of Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture. However, it means the whole tsukudani cooked with ginger nowadays. It is believed that 'Shigure Hamaguri' was named by Shiko KAGAMI, a Haiku poet in the middle of the Edo period.
Followings are several theories for its etymology.
First, various flavors appearing one after another in our mouth is likened shigure (a shower of rain in late autumn and early winter) falling transiently.
Second, the best time of year for clams coincides with the times when shigure falls.
Third, Shigureni must be cooked in a short time, which is associated with shigure falling for a short time.