Chapter 18

Kashi no Bu (菓子乃部)
Sweets

Labelled as “sweets,” this chapter deals almost exclusively with different variations on mochi, little cakes made out of rice flour. The two notable exceptions are quite different, and both appear to originate with European contact in the 16th century. The first is tamago sōmen, or “egg sōmen,” but not what we would think of as “egg noodles,” today. A better description might be “egg threads,” or “fios de ovos” in Portuguese. These are still made in Portugal, Brazil and other places that the Portuguese made contact, such as Thailand. They derive from a class of desserts using egg yolk, as egg whites were often used for other purposes, including laundry.

The other dessert that the Portuguese seem to have brought with them is okoshi kome. These sugar coated roasted seeds are reminiscent of similar sweets found in Europe, India, and the Middle East. And missing from this section are sweets that don't need preparation, such as fruits (sometimes called kiguwashi or kigashi).

1. Tamago sōmen 玉子素麺 (Egg sōmen)

Crack open the egg(s). Scramble well. Boil white sugar in water. Scoop out the shell. Drizzle in the egg. Then take it out and cool it well.

2. Okoshi kome おこし米 (Rice candy)

Dry kernels of Job’s tears well. Slice them into pieces and roast them like rice to a golden brown. Then, add water to sugar and bring to a simmer. When it is boiling, take a little of the sugar in a bowl cover. Put in a little of the Job’s tears and mix. After emptying it into a tray, let it harden. Put sugar into the bowl cover as many times as you can. This can also be done with Dōmyōji [rice].

3. Gobō mochi 牛房餅 (Burdock rice cake)

Boil gobō well and pound it. Grind it in a mortar to prepare. Then add sugar to 6 fun glutinous rice flour and 4 fun of non-glutinous rice flour. Grind it to blend together with the gobō. If there is too much sugar it will turn white. Then, when it is just right, roll it up into balls. Boil it and fry it in sesame oil. After that, boil sugar. Put it in, boil, and serve. There are oral traditions regarding the seasoning of the gobō and sugar as seen when it is rolled.

4. Kuzu yakimochi 葛焼もち (Arrowroot grilled rice cake)

Mix well together 1 shō of kuzu, 1 shō of water, and 1 shō of sugar. Roll it up about the size of a small tangerine. Smear a little oil in a pot. Fry it up inside many times.

5. Kuzu mochi 葛餅 (Arrowroot rice cake)

Put 1 shō of kuzu flour in 1 shō and 5 gō of water. Knead it together and serve. It is good to put either bean powder, salt, or sugar on top of the mochi. Alternatively, grate and mix well kuzu flour and warabi flour with a druggist’s mortar.

6. Warabi mochi 蕨餅 (Bracken rice cake)

Put 1 shō, 6~7 gō of water in 1 shō of warabi flour. It is good to dissolve well and knead. Powder is the same as above.

7. Yuki mochi 雪餅 (Snow rice cakes)

Mix 1 shō of non-glutinous rice flour and 3 gō of glutinous rice flour. Moisten it with a little water. Spread out a cloth in a steamer. When you put the rice flour in the screen and steam well, you can put in such things as dried persimmons on skewers, chestnuts, or kaya seeds. For yellow, dampen the flour in a kuchinashi broth.

8. Sugihara mochi 杉原もち

Also called meguri. Cut sugihara paper finely and steam. Boil yamaimo leaves, and take out the stalks and sinew. Then mix 6 fun of glutinous rice flour and 4 fun of non-glutinous rice flour. Boil it and arrange the three of these well. This is good in the dog days of the 6th month for even the high and also the low ranks.

9. Kuko mochi 枸杞餅 (Gojiberry rice cakes)

Boil kuko, and pound it well. Take the strained broth and mix in a ratio of 4 fun glutinous rice flour to 6 fun non-glutinous rice flour. Boil it and pound it well. Alternatively, put it in immediately.

10. Ukogi mochi 五加餅 (Siberian ginseng rice cakes)

The same recipe as kuko mochi.

11. Chimaki ちまき (Rice cake wrapped in bamboo leaves)

For this, also, gently mix a flour of 4 fun to 6 fun. Wrap up in leaves of sasa or wild rice and boil well. To make it yellow you can put in kuchinashi broth. Garnish with sugar, bean flour, and salt.

12. Sasa mochi さゝ餅 (Bamboo grass rice cake)

Polish non-glutinous rice and beat it well into flour. Take the flour in three steps. For the first, roughly pound. Then sift. Set that powder apart. For the second, pound well. Sift fine. Mix this into water. Make it into small balls, put them into a pot, and simmer. They should rise to the top, and then boil until they sink again. Lift them up, pound them well in a wooden rice mortar and chop it up into various shapes. For yellow, kuchinashi, and for blue, it is good to put in yomogi broth. There are oral traditions of green soybean powder. Yuzu leaves.

13. Goshosama mochi 御所様餅 (Royal rice cakes)

A tradition of the Nanbu (southern) palace. Make a good flour from 4 fun of non-glutinous rice and 6 fun of glutinous rice, knead it together with grated yamaimo. Make them small and flat and boil well in miso broth. Pile up just the mochi, boil sugar, pour it on top, and serve. It is good to put 4 gō of water into 1 shō of sugar and boil.

14. Konoesama yuki mochi 近衛様雪餅 (Konoe’s snow rice cake)

Make a powder of 2 ryō of byakujutsu, 1 ryō of bukuryō, 2 ryō of san’yaku, 2 ryō of lotus, and 2 ryō of Job’s tears knead it in with a flour of 4 fun of non-glutinous rice and 6 fun glutinous rice and grind together. Add 8 ryō of sugar and stir it together well. As usual, spread out a cloth. Steam it, cut it, and then serve.