🍡 Jyune-mochi (Potato Cake with Sweet Egoma Souce)

The Nanbu region of Aomori has a very cold climate and has experienced many famines which is why the region has a culture of eating millets. The word "Jyune" refers to egoma (perilla) and "Jyune-mochi" is eaten with a paste made with roasted perilla seeds which are grinded and mixed with miso and sugar. "Kannakake-imo" powder is a powder made from dried white potatoes with the starch removed. At roadside stations, wheat flour or buckwheat flour is often used instead of "Kannakake-imo" powder, and the mochi is put on sticks, dipped in sauce, and then grilled. At home, children would gather around an open hearth or stove in autumn or winter and bake the mochi on sticks that their grandmother had prepared for them.