A calendar of Japanese foods

[Hiroyuki]

In China and other Asian countries, 2007 is a year of the pig, but it is a year of the wild boar in Japan.

The Chinese character for pig is 猪, but the Japanese somehow mistook it to mean wild boar. (In Japanese, the Chinese character for pig is 豚.)

I learned about this this year!

[Hiroyuki]

What did you do and eat yesterday, the day (chuu-nichi) of Higan?

I didn't do anything particular in connection with Higan, but I got these from my sisters-in-law:

Botamochi, kinako mochi, maze gohan (cooked rice with other ingredients mixed in), and nimono. The two nimono tasted almost the same.

Edited March 22, 2007 by Hiroyuki (log)

[cookaburra]

What did you do and eat yesterday, the day (chuu-nichi) of Higan?

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Yesterday my wife made ohagi.One type was anko and the other was kinako.

Sorry I forgot to take a photo.

[Hiroyuki]

What did you do and eat yesterday, the day (chuu-nichi) of Higan?

←

Yesterday my wife made ohagi.One type was anko and the other was kinako.

Sorry I forgot to take a photo.

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Ohagi and botamochi are basically the same. Those dumplings made in Higan in the spring are called botamochi, while those made in Higan in the fall are called ohagi.

[helenjp]

Mmm - botamochi! I remember my first husband almost missing our reserved seats on the bullet train when he suddenly remembered a favorite wagashi shop near Tokyo Station that sold good botamochi, and just HAD to rush and get one!

Hiroyuki, are the stringy things in that nimono zenmai, or yama-kurage, or zuiki, or???

The higan-zakura (taiwan cherries) are flowering here - has the snow melted off your garden yet?

[Hiroyuki]

Mmm - botamochi! I remember my first husband almost missing our reserved seats on the bullet train when he suddenly remembered a favorite wagashi shop near Tokyo Station that sold good botamochi, and just HAD to rush and get one!

Hiroyuki, are the stringy things in that nimono zenmai, or yama-kurage, or zuiki, or???

The higan-zakura (taiwan cherries) are flowering here - has the snow melted off your garden yet?

←

Zenmai! Zenmai is an indispensable ingredient in nimono here in the Uonuma region.

[Hiroyuki]

Which do you have on Tango no Sekku, kashiwa mochi or chimaki?

Here in Niigata, chimaki are more popular, as I described here.

[helenjp]

Chiba- definitely kashiwa-mochi (fairly plain glutinous rice dumplings stuffed with anko,wrapped in an oak leaf).

However in recent years we occasionally see chimaki on sale...though they are a travesty of the original, and in this area it seems that even the cheapest kashiwa-mochi are the better bet!