Sweets
Heso Mochi
Heso mochi — a dimpled rice dumpling set out for the harvest moon
Rice flour dumplings are shaped flat with a dimple pressed into the center, then steamed. Specific to the central and western region west of the Fuji River, they're said to be made from that year's new rice for the mid-autumn and later moon-viewing nights.
- Origin: Shizuoka City, Shizuoka
- About 150 km southwest of Tokyo
What it's made of
Heso-mochi is a moon-viewing dumpling made from rice flour, shaped into a flattened round with a dent pressed into the center. The custom is specific to the central and western regions of Shizuoka west of the Fuji River, and the dumplings are said to be made with that year's new rice and offered at the mid-autumn and later-autumn moon-viewing festivals. The dent in the center is said to be why it is also called a 'navel dumpling.'
How it's made
Hot water is gradually worked into rice flour until it reaches the softness of an earlobe. The dough is rolled into balls, flattened by hand, and given a navel-like dent in the center before being steamed for ten to fifteen minutes. Sweet red bean paste is served on a separate plate and spooned onto the center of each dumpling before eating. They are made at home and are also reportedly sold at Japanese confectionery shops.
Why it took this shape
The dumplings were once said to be offered twelve at a time, or thirteen in a leap year, placed on a bundle of new rice straw, and on the night of the moon-viewing, children reportedly went door to door collecting the dumplings left out on verandas. Using that year's new rice is said to carry particular meaning, making the offering a way for a rice-farming region to express gratitude for the harvest.
Before you go
- How to shop in a depachika (department store food hall)A guide to browsing prepared foods and bento, choosing wagashi as a gift with a good shelf life, sampling etiquette, end-of-day discounts, asking for cold packs and wrapping, and finding your way around a depachika floor.
- Osechi and zoni for the New YearA guide to the meaning behind osechi's tiered boxes, the regional differences in zoni (square vs. round mochi, clear vs. miso broth), and the nanakusa-gayu custom.
- Setsubun: ehomaki and lucky beansA guide to ehomaki, the uncut sushi roll said to be eaten facing a lucky direction on Setsubun, and to mamemaki, the bean-throwing custom with roasted lucky beans.
Dishes in the same style
- Abekawa MochiFresh-pounded rice cake is dusted in soybean flour mixed with sugar. Named for the Abe River, it's said to have been famous among Tokaido travelers as a teahouse specialty and to appear in the travel novel Tokaidochu Hizakurige.
- Iga ManjuSweet bean paste is wrapped in rice flour dough, then coated with dyed sticky rice grains. One account ties the name to the grains' resemblance to a chestnut's spiny husk, and in the western Mikawa region it's said to be offered to Hina dolls at the Doll Festival.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Shizuoka
- BokumeshiSteamed eel and shaved burdock are simmered together and folded into freshly cooked rice. Its name is said to trace to oversized eels unfit for sale, used in staff meals at eel farms along the Oi River — a mixed rice dish of the region.
- Fuji KinkaBred by Shizuoka Prefecture by crossing its own Duroc line, Fujirock, with Jinhua, a rare breed from China's Zhejiang province — found only in Shizuoka. Said to combine Jinhua's tenderness with Fujirock's marbling.
- Fujieda Asa RamenA town that eats ramen at breakfast — often a hot bowl followed by a cold one.
- Fujinomiya YakisobaIt grew up as a postwar snack at Fujinomiya's candy shops and okonomiyaki stalls. Its identity rests on three local staples: chewy steamed noodles, pork-lard cracklings called nikukasu, and a sardine-powder topping called dashiko.
- GawaRaw bonito is minced and mixed into a chilled miso broth with cucumber, pickled plum, and shiso. Its name is said to come from the "gawa-gawa" sound of stirring miso into ice water aboard a fishing boat — originally a summer meal made at sea.