In Tokyo’s Tsukuda area, people still make tsukudani, a traditional Japanese food that started more than 200 years ago. At a shop called Tsukushin, a father and son, Nobuo and Yoshihiro Kobayashi, begin work at 5 a.m. They cook tuna, shrimp, seaweed, and clams in a sweet and salty sauce. They use an old way of cooking from the Edo period, before refrigerators were invented. Big factories can make a lot of tsukudani quickly. But at Tsukushin, the Kobayashi family cooks it by hand in small amounts. They use gas heat and wooden trays. This keeps the traditional taste and method alive. They must cook carefully. They do not stir too much so the food does not break. Yoshihiro says tsukudani is like jam because it has a strong taste. People usually eat it with rice. Some also eat it with miso soup or chazuke, which is rice with hot tea. It is also good in lunch boxes. Today, there are new tsukudani snacks. But many people believe it is important to keep the old cooking style. Shops like Tsukushin help protect Japan’s food traditions.