🍚 Koppa-mochi (Sweet potato rice cake)

“Koppa-mochi" is a traditional snack made from sweet potatoes, a specialty of the Amakusa region. The word "koppa" comes from a dialect word meaning “cut into small pieces,” and refers to peeled sweet potatoes that have been cut into 1- or 2-cm round slices, boiled, and dried in the sun. The sight of straw-threaded slices of sweet potatoes hanging from the eaves, signaling the arrival of winter, is a common scene in Amakusa. In the Amakusa region, the rice harvest is low due to the lack of flat land, so sweet potatoes, which can be grown on barren land, have been cultivated in large quantities for a long time. “Koppa” not only served as a convenient preserved food but also gained enhanced sweetness through a process of boiling, drying in the sun, and letting it become completely dry. “Koppa-mochi” is made by steaming a mixture of “Koppa” and glutinous rice, combined with sugar (or malt syrup, etc.). It has a soft and chewy texture, offering a simple and rustic flavor that highlights the sweetness of sweet potatoes. In the old days, it was made at each household, and because it lasted for a long time at room temperature, it was made as a New Year's snack, especially at the end of the year. Nowadays, it is sold as a typical souvenir of the Amakusa region.