[What & Why] Japanese Traditional Event, Kashiwa Mochi and recipe. Questions from my tour guests.

Описание: Japanese traditional event & Kashiwa Mochi. May 5th is Tango-no Sekku, an event to pray for the health and growth of boys. During a recent guide of city tour of Tokyo (I'm a Tokyo bike guide), I received several questions from guests regarding the May Children's day and Kashiwa mochi. In this YouTube, I would like to answer the following questions.

1. an introduction to Tango-no Sekku in May and the custom of eating Kashiwa Mochi in Japan.
2. the what and why of Kashiwa Mochi.
3. why there are two different colors of Kashiwa-no-ha leaves, oak leaves.
4. whether Kashiwa-no-ha leaves are eaten or not.
5. how the Kashiwa Mochi is actually made.

1. What is Kashiwa Mochi?
It is customary to eat Kashiwa Mochi on Tango no Sekku. Kashiwa Mochi is a rice cake filled with red bean paste and wrapped in an Kashiwa-no-ha leaf. There are the following reasons why the leaves of Kashiwa-no-ha leaves are used.

2. Why Kashiwa-no-ha leaves?
The Kashiwa-no-ki, oak tree, is a deciduous tree of the beech family. The tree family usually lose their leaves in winter, but Kashiwa-no-ki retains its leaves even in winter until new leaves appear, so it has been considered an auspicious tree for the prosperity of descendants.

Another reason is that large and wave leaves with the shape of resembles a samurai helmet, which is believed to be effective in warding off evil spirits.

Scientific point of view?
From a scientific point of view, Kashiwa no ha leaves contain eugenol, which has antibacterial and antiseptic effects, as a component of their fragrance.
The reason for wrapping rice cakes in Kashiwa-no-ha leaves is that eugenol prevents the growth of bacteria, and wrapping rice cakes in leaves protects them from drying out, so people in ancient times used to wrap rice cakes in oak leaves as a form of wisdom.

3. Why are there two different colors of leaves?
According to the old calendar, Tango-no-sekku was in June. However, with the Meiji Restoration, a new calendar was adopted and the festival was moved to May. In May, the leaves had not yet grown large enough, so a method was devised to Kashiwa no ha leaves harvested the previous year, sterilize them, and dry them for preservation. When Kashiwa-no-ha leaves are steamed, they turn brown in color. Nowadays, technology has advanced to the point where green leaves can be prepared even in May, and the traditional brown and green Kashiwa no ha leaves exist.

4. When you eat kashiwa mochi, do you eat kashiwa-no-ha leaves?
Kashiwa leaves are tough and not very pleasant to eat. They are not harmful to eat, but they spoil the texture of eating rice cakes. It is better not to eat the leaves.

5. How to make
[Recipe] See references
Mix rice flour and water. This time I made mugwort mochi, so add mugwort powder and mix well.
Instead of steaming this time, I heated it in the microwave.
Place well-kneaded mugwort mochi on top of an Kashiwa-no-ha leaf.
Place boiled red beans seasoned with sugar on top and wrap it in mochi.
Wrap that in the leaf and it's done.

Leaves are plates and wrapping!
In the old days, when plates were still expensive, food was served on oak leaves, like Kashiwa-no-ha leaves instead of plates. In addition to the advantage of being able to use it in place of a plate when eating, the fact that the Kashiwa Mochi is wrapped in a leaf also has the advantage of allowing people to eat it without getting their hands dirty.

[Table of contents]
0:00 Overview
0:51 1. Tango-no Sekku & Kashiwa Mochi
1:18 2-1. Why Kashiwa Mochi & leaves
1:55 2-2. Kashiwa leaves and Samurai helmet
2:11 2-3. Kashiwa leaves and science
2:51 3. Brown and green Kashiwa leaves
3:44 4. Do we eat Kashiwa leaves?
4:05 5. How to make Kashiwa mochi
5:26 My failure
5:36 Ending

[References]
"随筆草木志 (Japanese)" by Tomitaro Makino (1936)
It is stated that the leaf used as a plate is called Kashiwa (p 33).

"絵本江戸風俗往来 (Japanese)"
In Edo (present-day Tokyo), sweets shops began selling Kashiwa Mochi around Horeki (1751-64)

"守貞漫稿 (Japanese)(1853)"
Recipe is in the book. Rice flour is kneaded, flattened into a round shape, folded in two, and sandwiched between two pieces of sugared bean paste.
In Edo, miso paste with sugar is sometimes used instead of red bean paste. The bean-jam rice cake is wrapped with the back side of the leaf so that the oak leaf is facing out, while the miso rice cake is wrapped with the front side so that the back side is facing out.

"江戸食文化紀行 (Japanese)"　
https://www.kabuki-za.co.jp/syoku/2/n...

[東海道五十三次] 白須賀 葛飾北斎 (Katsushika Hokusai)
The Fifty-Three Post-Stations along the Tokaido Highway : Shirasuka
It depicted handmade Kashiwa Mochi.
https://dcollections.lib.keio.ac.jp/j...


#kashiwa
#mochi
#traditional
#food
#sweet
#desert
#eugenol