A meal of mochi rice cakes galore
With its verdant fields, the city of Ichinoseki in Iwate Prefecture is one of northeast Honshu’s premier rice-growing regions. It is also known for its distinctive culinary tradition of eating mochi or rice cakes.
“In Ichinoseki,” Aya explains, “it’s customary to eat mochi rice cakes during festivals and special occasions, at rites of passage, and on significant dates in the agricultural calendar. For example, at New Year’s and the ceremony marking the beginning of the agricultural year on January 11, people eat what are called fukutori mochi or “good luck rice cakes” dusted with sweet soybean flour, as well as zoni or rice cake soup. At the Peach Festival in March they eat yomogi mochi or mugwort-flavored rice cakes, and at the Chrysanthemum Festival in September they eat zunda mochi or mashed soybean rice cakes. And on December 27, the traditional date to do one’s year-end housecleaning, they eat kusamochi, another type of mugwort-flavored rice cake. Rice cakes are eaten on over sixty occasions during the year.”
There’s even a mochi calendar showing which rice cakes to eat (or place on the altar) when.
Skilled local hands making round rice cakes.
“Freshly made mochi taste so good that you can’t resist having more,” says Aya, “even as you worry you’ll overindulge.”
“A particular rarity is what is called mochi honzen or ‘tray of rice cakes,’ which is served at weddings and memorial services. This consists of mochi with sweet bean paste, ryori mochi or ‘cuisine rice cakes,’ rice cake soup, vinegared daikon salad to refresh the palate, and pickles, all served on a lacquered tray with legs. There’s even a set code of etiquette on how to eat the meal, which was once taught at special finishing classes.”
At these finishing classes, people would learn the elaborate protocols governing the meal and the order in which to eat it. You start with a mouthful of the daikon salad, then proceed to the mochi with bean paste, the ryori mochi, and finally the soup.
“The types of mochi served vary depending on the season, the occasion, and the venue. Ebi mochi, which are made with a type of freshwater shrimp called numaebi, are often served on celebratory occasions: they’re considered auspicious due to their bright red color. Natto mochi, which are coated with natto or fermented soybeans, are not thought appropriate for funerals because the sticky strands of natto seem ominous of a string of more deaths to follow. Besides these, many other types of mochi are still enjoyed today. There’s kiji mochi, for example, which is coated in minced pheasant meat, burdock root, and carrot. There’s also hoya mochi—rice cake mixed with sea squirt.”
“Ebi or shrimp mochi (left) is, with its bright color, perfect for celebratory occasions,” says Aya. “Kiji or pheasant mochi (right) is flavorful and delicious.”
Ichinoseki’s mochi cuisine goes back centuries.
When washoku or traditional Japanese dietary culture was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the mochi cuisine of Ichinoseki was described in detail in the nomination file submitted by Japan. Two factors lie behind the evolution of this distinctive form of cuisine over the centuries. First, the Ichinoseki region was famed for its rice. Second, in the Edo Period (1603-1868), it was ruled by the Date clan.
“In the Edo period, it was the family custom of the rulers of Date domain to offer rice cakes to the gods on the first and the fifteenth of every month, and they required their subjects to do the same. But mochi rice—the sticky rice used for rice cakes—was an extremely valuable commodity for the common people, and they couldn’t afford to make cakes of pure mochi rice twice a month. So instead they mixed broken rice with other grains to produce what were called shiina mochi rice cakes. To make those rice cakes more appetizing, it’s said, they got creative and started eating them in various flavors by making use of seasonal ingredients.”
Though mochi honzen is now seldom eaten in the traditional style, Ichinoseki still offers an impressive variety of rice cakes. It has restaurants that serve tourists mochi dishes and mochi honzen—and even somewhere where you can learn mochi-eating etiquette.
“The varied mochi cuisine of Ichinoseki is a feast for the eyes and the taste buds that can only be enjoyed here. It’s a gastronomic tradition that’s fun for locals and visitors alike. It will doubtless survive far into the future as part of Ichinoseki’s cultural heritage, even as it gradually incorporates modern elements.”
