also: たつくり
candied dried sardines; gomame simmered in soy sauce and sugar
A traditional Japanese dish made from small dried sardines (gomame) cooked in a sweet soy sauce glaze until almost dry. Often served as part of osechi ryōri for New Year's, symbolizing a bountiful harvest. Also called ごまめ.
See also: ごまめ
tilling a rice field; person who tills a paddy field
Rare, literal meaning referring to the act of cultivating a rice paddy or the person who does it. In modern Japanese, this sense is almost never used independently; the word is overwhelmingly known as the food sense.
Candied dried sardines are indispensable in osechi cuisine.
The candied dried sardines my mother makes are sweet and salty and very delicious.
The word '田作り' originally meant tilling a rice field.
Standard kanji spelling for both senses; reading たづくり is the most common.
Alternate reading; less common than たづくり.
Literally 'field making' (田 + 作り). The food sense is said to derive from the practice of using dried sardines as fertilizer in rice fields, symbolizing a wish for a good harvest.