Sweets
Kaasaa Muuchii
Kaasaa muuchii — leaf-wrapped mochi steamed for a midwinter ward-off-evil rite
Rice-flour mochi wrapped in shell ginger leaf and steamed, offered to household gods on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month to ward off misfortune. The name is said to trace to a folktale of a sister who defeated an ogre, and the leaves are still hung at doorways for protection.
- Origin: Okinawa
- About 1560 km southwest of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
A dough of glutinous rice flour is wrapped in shell ginger leaf and steamed for this Okinawan rice cake, also known as muuchii or "demon cake." As it steams, the leaf's fresh scent fills the house and seeps faintly into the cake itself. Many households mix in brown sugar, purple sweet potato, or sorghum for extra color, though a plain, undyed version called white muuchii is made as well.
How it's made
Glutinous rice flour is kneaded with coarse sugar and water into a dough about as firm as an earlobe, then left to rest. It's divided into rice-ball-sized portions, wrapped in the underside of a shell ginger leaf, tied with string, and steamed for about 30 minutes. Turmeric powder, brown sugar, or purple sweet potato are sometimes worked in for color, and some cooks use fan palm leaf instead of shell ginger.
Why it took this shape
The cake is offered to ward off misfortune on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, part of a yearly ritual said to have been passed down as a prayer for family health. The name "demon cake" survives from a folktale tied to Shuri's Kinjo neighborhood, and customs meant to guard against misfortune still linger, such as scattering the steaming liquid around the house or tying the leaves into a cross shape to hang at the entrance. For a family's first son, an especially large version wrapped in fan palm leaf, called chikara muuchii, is said to be made to celebrate.
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 Okinawa
- Ashi TibichiPig's trotters are simmered for hours with kelp and daikon until the bone slides free on its own. Rooted in the belief that eating a body part heals the same part in the eater, it's traditionally favored by older people, anyone with trouble in the legs, or those minding their skin.
- AwamoriA distilled spirit from Okinawa made only from Thai rice and black koji, with every grain of rice turned into koji in a method called zen-koji-jikomi. Citric acid from the black koji is said to keep the mash from spoiling even in hot, humid conditions, and it's classified alongside shochu as a single-distillation spirit.
- Chii IrichiiPork blood is worked with pork meat, carrot, and wood-ear mushroom into a distinctive stir-simmered dish. Rooted in the same eat-what-ails-you logic as ashi tibichi, it was thought to guard against anemia, and it's traditionally offered before Lunar New Year and at memorial services.
- Chimu ShinjiPork liver and a native yellow carrot are simmered down almost like a medicinal decoction, meant for days the body needs support. It follows the kusuimun idea that food itself can be medicine, and is traditionally made for anemia or when someone's caught a cold.
- Gooyaa ChanpuruuBitter goya is stir-fried together with Okinawa's firm tofu and egg. A dish only earns the name champuru once tofu is in it, and this one has long served double duty — coaxing back a summer-flagged appetite while delivering vitamin C, now eaten year-round.
- HanazakeA distilled spirit made only on Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost island, at around 60 percent alcohol. Its raw materials and method are the same as awamori, but because its proof exceeds awamori's legal ceiling, it's classified as 'spirits' rather than awamori under the liquor tax law.