🍡 Imo Mochi / Sweet Potato Mochi

In regions along the Kumano Sea, where there is limited flat land suitable for rice cultivation due to the proximity of mountains to the sea, sweet potatoes (satsuma imo) became a staple food alongside barley. The red soil plateau makes it easy to cultivate sweet potatoes, and the sweet flavor of the harvested produce makes it a daily dietary staple, often replacing rice. The ingenuity of using fewer glutinous rice to make mochi from sweet potatoes played a role in its popularity. Sweet potato cultivation in the Kumano region started during the Edo period. Umematsu Yasuke, a resident of Kushimoto, discovered the deliciousness of sweet potatoes during a visit to Hyuga in Kyushu and brought them back to Kushimoto. The climate and conditions of Kii Province (now Wakayama Prefecture) proved suitable for sweet potato cultivation, leading to widespread adoption in various parts of the southern part of the prefecture. During that time, sharing seedlings or cultivation methods outside the domain was prohibited to protect the domain's interests. Umematsu Yasuke, who brought sweet potatoes to the distant southern region of the prefecture, was posthumously honored, receiving recognition from the Governor of Wakayama Prefecture during the Meiji period. Apart from "imomochi" (sweet potato rice cake), there are other local dishes using sweet potatoes, such as "ukeja" (sweet potato with tea), "imochagayu" (sweet potato rice porridge), "imogohan" (sweet potato rice), and "yude hoshiimo" (boiled dried sweet potatoes).