Sweets
Kirazu Mochi
Kirazu Mochi — mochi rice stretched with tofu pulp, wrapped around sweet red bean
Sticky rice dough stretched with tofu pulp, called kirazu locally, is wrapped around sweet red bean paste — a confection passed down only in the Ogawa district of Sakawa Town. Made from the pulp left over from pre-New Year's tofu-making, it was also served as a good-luck food, its name playing on "not cutting" a bond.
- Origin: Kochi Sakawa
- About 640 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
The dough, made from glutinous rice mixed with okara, carries a faint bean fragrance, and the sweet bean paste tucked inside is said to bring a mild sweetness and a soft, sticky bite. Okara, the pulp left over from making tofu, is also called kirazu locally, a name said to come from the fact that it needs no knife, no kiru, to prepare. It is said to have once been served at wedding celebrations as a wish that the couple's bond would never be cut, and this confection is said to be passed down only in the Ogawa district of Sakawa Town.
How it's made
Glutinous rice, soaked beforehand, is drained and steamed, while the okara is steamed lightly on its own. Once the rice is pounded, the okara, salt, and sugar are added and it is pounded again. The pounded dough is torn into bite-size pieces, wrapped around sweet bean paste, rolled into balls, and finished with a dusting of roasted soybean flour. Some households vary the flavor by adding mugwort or dusting with millet flour instead.
Why it took this shape
It was customary to make tofu before the New Year, and each household is said to have brought its own soybeans to a neighbor who ground them. Rather than waste the okara left over from that tofu, it is said to have been worked into a rice cake and eaten at New Year's, which is said to be how this confection began. In times when glutinous rice was costly, the okara is also said to have helped stretch it further, and today it endures as a mildly sweet local treat, still made and shared by women's groups around the New Year.
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 Kochi
- Chate no AemonoChayote, a squash-family vine native to tropical America and known locally as chate, is tossed raw into a light dressing — an autumn home dish in Kochi. A single vine can bear over a hundred fruit, so it's mostly grown for the household or shared with neighbors, and it's especially popular in the mountains where it grows easily.
- Chunichi SobaA local noodle dish from Akaoka, Kochi's Konan City, pairing Chinese noodles with udon stock. Dried baby sardines and shredded kelp are the standard toppings, said to have grown from a shortcut sparing the effort of both udon and ramen kitchens.
- Ginburo ZushiGinburo, a kidney bean grown only for home use in a district of Otoyo Town, is simmered sweet and folded into vinegared rice with root vegetables. Regarded as a bean of long life and good fortune, it's traditionally made for festivals and celebratory banquets.
- GoishichaA post-fermented tea from Otoyo, Kochi Prefecture, made through two stages of fermentation — an aerobic mold fermentation followed by a lactic acid soak. Named for its square-cut, sun-dried pieces said to resemble go stones, it carries a distinctive sweet-and-sour flavor.
- GuruniDaikon, carrot, taro, and other root vegetables are simmered together in a dashi made from dried baby sardines and soy sauce — a winter side dish. The name is said to come from "guru," Tosa dialect for a group of companions, and the dish was long made in bulk and reheated meal after meal.
- Ha Ninniku no NutaGarlic greens are chopped, ground, and mixed with miso, vinegar, sesame, and sugar — a traditional Kochi condiment said to trace back to a Korean import. It's commonly spooned over raw fish like yellowtail in place of soy sauce, and both its name and the fish it accompanies vary by area.