Sweets
Junen Botamochi
Junen botamochi — rice balls coated in roasted, sweetened perilla seed
Balls of glutinous rice are coated in junen, perilla seed roasted and sweetened, in place of the usual red bean paste or soybean flour. The seed is said to add ten years to your life if eaten — junen literally meaning ten years — which gives the dish its distinguishing ingredient.
- Origin: Fukushima Iwaki
- About 180 km northeast of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Roasted and sugared perilla seeds, called juunen locally, coat balls of glutinous rice in this dish from Fukushima City and Iwaki. Using juunen instead of the usual sweet red bean or soybean flour coating is what sets it apart, prized for its toasty aroma and light crunch, it's said. Perilla is said to be nutritious enough that eating it is said to add ten years to your life, and it's treasured as a health food, it's said.
How it's made
Juunen is lightly roasted in a pan, shaken so it doesn't burn, then ground thoroughly in a mortar once fragrant, the basic method. It's seasoned with salt and sugar, and ground for about thirty minutes until sticky enough to cling to the rice, it's said. The rice balls are then coated in this perilla mixture to finish, it's said.
Why it took this shape
Fukushima is said to have been known as a perilla-growing region since before the Edo period, and growing sesame proved difficult in the higher mountain areas, which is thought to be why perilla cultivation flourished there instead. Making use of juunen, which dries after harvest and keeps well, as a way to entertain guests or as a snack is thought to be what gave rise to this mochi dish.
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.
- At kissaten, cafes, and kanmi-dokoroThe difference between jun-kissa and chain cafes, the morning-set custom, and kanmi-dokoro staples like anmitsu and zenzai.
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 Fukushima
- Aizu RamenFlat, thick hand-made noodles in a clear soy broth. Said to trace back to a Aizuwakamatsu diner owner bringing home a taste learned in Yokohama — a second soy ramen lineage that grew up apart from Kitakata's, in the same Aizu region.
- Aizu Curry YakisobaA dish from Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima: sauce yakisoba topped with curry roux. It's said to trace to a diner called Tommy Food, which began ladling curry over its yakisoba, catching on especially among young diners for its low price and filling size.
- Aizu GyuSteers and heifers of Japanese Black raised in the Aizu basin, fed mainly local rice straw — the basin's sharp seasonal swings are said to suit fattening, making it Fukushima's leading brand.
- Aizu JidoriA lineage said to have been brought to Aizu by Heike clan refugees, saved from near-extinction and re-established through crossbreeding by Fukushima prefecture; reportedly fattened for 90 to 170 days.
- Aizu Sōsu KatsudonAizu's sauce katsudon, doused in a thick sweet-savory sauce. Its origin has several competing accounts, none settled, but all point to it being refined through everyday improvisation on Taisho-era Western food.
- Aizu Yamajio RamenSalt ramen seasoned with mountain salt drawn from hot-spring water — rounder than sea salt.