is a wagashi (Japanese confection) made with

glutinous rice Glutinous rice (''Oryza sativa var. glutinosa''; also called sticky rice, sweet rice or waxy rice) is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast and East Asia, and the northeastern regions of South Asia, which has opaque grains, very low amylose ...

, regular

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

(ratio of 7:3, or only glutinous rice), and sweet

azuki ''Vigna angularis'', also known as the adzuki bean , azuki bean, aduki bean, red bean, or red mung bean, is an annual vine widely cultivated throughout East Asia for its small (approximately long) bean. The cultivars most familiar in East Asia ...

paste (

red bean paste Red bean paste () or red bean jam, also called adzuki bean paste or ''anko'' (a Japanese word), is a paste made of red beans (also called "adzuki beans"), used in East Asian cuisine. The paste is prepared by boiling the beans, then mashing or g ...

). They are made by soaking the rice for approximately 1 hour. The rice is then cooked, and a thick azuki paste is hand-packed around pre-formed balls of rice. Botamochi is eaten as

sacred food as offering Sacred food as offering is a concept within anthropology regarding the study of food as it relates to religious ritual. Many religions have prescriptions about the correct preparation and cooking of food, besides the taboos about forbidden subj ...

during the weeks of the spring and the autumn

Higan is a Buddhist holiday exclusively celebrated by Japanese sects for seven days; three days before and after both the Spring equinox (shunbun) and Autumnal equinox (shūbun). It is observed by nearly every Buddhist school in Japan. The tradi ...

in Japan. Another name for this kind of confection is , which the origin and the definition of is in argument but some people say uses a slightly different texture of azuki paste but is otherwise almost identical, it is made in autumn and some recipe variations in both cases call for a coating of soy flour to be applied to the ohagi after the azuki paste. Botamochi,Ohagi,Katori-city,Japan

The two different names are, some people say, derived from the Botan (

peony The peony or paeony is a flowering plant in the genus ''Paeonia'' , the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae . Peonies are native to Asia, Europe and Western North America. Scientists differ on the number of species that can be distinguished, ...

) which blooms in the spring and the Hagi (Japanese

bush clover ''Lespedeza'' is a genus of some 40 species (including nothospecies) of flowering plants in the pea family (Fabaceae), commonly known as bush clovers or (particularly East Asian species) Japanese clovers (''hagi''). The genus is native to warm ...

or Lespedeza) which blooms during autumn. ''Botamochi'' is the modern name for the dish ''kaimochi'' (かいもち) mentioned in the

Heian Period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

text

Uji Shūi Monogatari is a collection of Japanese tales written around the beginning of the 13th century. The author is unknown, and it may have been revised several times. The title means "gleanings from ''Uji Dainagon Monogatari''", a book which no longer exists. Th ...

(宇治拾遺物語). The proverb , literally "a botamochi falls down from a shelf", means "receiving a windfall", "a lucky break". The term is also used for a specific pattern of

Bizen ware is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally from Bizen province, presently a part of Okayama prefecture. History Bizen ware was traditionally produced in and around the village of Imbe in Bizen province, from where it received its name. It ...

with two, three or five round marks, as if the marks of the small balls of rice cakes were left on the plate.

References

{{Reflist Wagashi

See also

References