A traditional Japanese food made from pureed white fish, shaped into a semi-cylinder on a wooden board, steamed, and sliced for soups, noodles, or as a side dish.
Hanpen is a softer, fluffy fish paste cake, often white and square, while kamaboko is firmer and has a characteristic pink outer layer.
Etymology
The word is of Japanese origin. The kanji 蒲 (gama, 'cattail') and 鉾 (hoko, 'halberd') are ateji, chosen for their sounds rather than meaning, though the shape of kamaboko is sometimes likened to a cattail head or a halberd blade.
