🍡 Kinka mochi

In the southern region, which has suffered from cold damage to rice cultivation caused by the "Yamase" (the name given to a cold Pacific wind) since ancient times, a culture of minor grains such as wheat, millet, Japanese millet and buckwheat developed. "Kinkamochi" is an unusual local delicacy born from this environment. It is made from brown sugar, walnuts and miso paste, wrapped in a flour skin, shaped into a half-moon shape and boiled. It is said to have been named "kinka mochi" (kinka meaning gold coin) because brown sugar was very expensive and a luxury item, and has been made by households for more than 100 years, offered at Buddhist altars on the Oobon (Bon Festival) and to agricultural deities for the New Year. It is also called 'bahorimochi' because its half-moon shape resembles a woven hat worn during farming, "kamasu mochi" because it resembles a grain storage bag called a "kamasu", and "mimikko mochi" and 'kai (shellfish) mochi' because of the similarity in shape.