Sweets
Oshimon
Oshimon — rice flour dough pressed into floral molds and tinted for the Doll Festival
Rice flour dough kneaded with hot water is pressed into molds, then tinted with coloring once unmolded. Offered to Hina dolls at the Doll Festival, it's called oshimon around Nagoya and okoshimon in surrounding areas, said to be set out alongside iga manju in western Mikawa.
- Origin: Aichi Nagoya
- About 270 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Oshimon is a sweet made by kneading rice flour with hot water, pressing it into a mold, and coloring the shape once it's removed. It is a traditional confection offered to the Hina dolls at the Doll's Festival, called 'oshimon' around Nagoya and 'okoshimon' in surrounding areas. The molds come in flower shapes such as cherry blossom and peach, as well as lucky motifs like sea bream and mandarin ducks.
How it's made
Hot water is kneaded into rice flour until it reaches the softness of an earlobe, then pressed into a mold. Some households mix the coloring in while kneading, others color the shape after it comes out of the mold, using food coloring or natural dyes such as gardenia or matcha. Because steaming deepens the color, keeping the coloring light at first is said to be the key.
Why it took this shape
Several accounts explain the name: one traces 'oshimon' to 'oshimono,' meaning something pressed into shape, and another says it became 'okoshimon' from the act of lifting the shape out of the mold. After being offered to the Hina dolls, the sweets are said to be eaten soft while still fresh, or grilled like mochi once they harden, dipped in tamari with sugar or, more commonly today, sweetened soy sauce.
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 Aichi
- Funa MisoCrucian carp is simmered slowly with soybeans for around five hours, then finished in a sauce of red miso and coarse sugar. A freshwater fish dish of the Kiso rivers' lower basin, made with fatty winter carp simmered until the bones soften through.
- Gohei MochiFreshly cooked non-glutinous rice is pounded, pressed flat on a skewer, and grilled with a miso glaze. Said to have originated in the mountainous Chubu region, it's traditionally made the night before a festival praying for safety in mountain work.
- Aichi HakozushiVinegared rice is packed into a wooden frame, topped with shrimp, eel, shiitake, and egg arranged diagonally, and pressed. Placing toppings on the diagonal so everyone gets a fair share of each is said to be a feature of the Owari and western Mikawa style, made for celebrations.
- Hebo MeshiAdult and larval giant hornets are simmered sweet and savory, then folded into freshly cooked rice. Said to have served as a prized protein source across the mountains from Shinshu to Okumikawa, it's now more often served as a treat for guests.
- Aichi Miso OdenA pot of sweet red miso sits in the center of the simmering pot, and daikon, tofu, and other ingredients simmered in dashi are dipped into it before eating. While soy-based Kanto-style oden spread in Edo, Aichi is said to have settled on dipping in soybean miso instead.