Sweets
Ibitsu Mochi
Ibitsu mochi — sweet bean-paste rice cake wrapped in catbrier leaves
A Boys' Day sweet of bean-paste mochi steamed inside catbrier leaves, used in place of oak leaves, which are said not to grow readily in Hyogo. The same sweet goes by different names by area — ibitsu mochi on Awaji, kashiwa mochi around Kobe and Tanba.
- Origin: Hyogo
- About 430 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
Sweet bean paste is wrapped in mochi, which is then wrapped again in the leaves of sarutoriibara, a type of greenbrier. Known nationally as kashiwa-mochi, it is said to use greenbrier leaves in Hyogo because oak leaves did not grow wild in the area.
How it's made
Flour made from mochi rice and regular rice is kneaded with hot water, wrapped around sweet bean paste, shaped into a ball, and wrapped top and bottom in greenbrier leaves before steaming. It is called "ibitsu-mochi" in Awaji, "kashiwa-mochi" around Kobe and Tamba, and by other local names in the Kita-Harima and Nishi-Harima areas.
Why it took this shape
The name "ibitsu-mochi" is said to come from the irregular, uneven shape of the greenbrier leaf. As a festive food for special occasions, it is said to have been made around the Boys' Festival in early May. It was given as a celebratory gift to relatives and neighbors, or offered in return for gifts received, and is also said to have been eaten by farming families during a break after rice planting called "doro-otoshi."
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 Hyogo
- AkashiyakiOctopus folded into a batter of wheat flour, jin-ko starch, egg, and dashi, cooked and dipped in a warm broth — Akashi's own take on the round batter-and-octopus dish, distinguished from takoyaki by that broth in place of sauce.
- Ako saltA salt tied to Japan's earliest full-scale commercial saltfields, using the irihama tidal-field method perfected in the Edo period. Controlling seawater with channels and embankments let work continue regardless of the tide, and the method is said to have remained Japan's main salt-making approach for some 300 years.
- Awaji BeefPure Tajima-line cattle raised on Awaji Island, a brand producers founded in 1986 — selected for balance between lean and fat rather than marbling volume, with a small annual output.
- Banshu RamenA distinctly sweet soy broth, said to have taken root among the town's textile-mill workers.
- Banshu Tenobe SomenA document held at Ikaruga-ji temple in Taishi records the word 'saumen' in an entry dated 1418, the oldest known reference to somen in Hyogo. In the Edo period the Ryuno domain formally licensed and encouraged the trade, built on locally grown wheat, the clear Ibo River, and salt from Ako.
- Botan NabeA Tanba-Sasayama hot pot of wild boar and seasonal vegetables simmered in a broth of white and red miso, often finished with a dusting of ground Japanese pepper. Some restaurants are said to arrange the sliced boar meat like the petals of a peony.