🍱 Myoga no Hayaki

"Myoga" is a perennial plant that grows in the wild from Honshu to Okinawa, and it is related to ginger. Both the flower and the stem have been used since long ago as potherbs, but Japan is said to be the only country that grows it for food. It is used in various ways, such as a condiment for udon and soba noodles, or lightly pickled with cucumber and eggplant. In Miyagi Prefecture, around the time that the "myoga leaves" grow large, "Myoga no Hayaki" is eaten as a children's' snack during breaks from farm work. Wheat flour or glutinous rice flour, sugar, and miso are mixed into a paste, wrapped in myoga leaves, and roasted. Then, the leaves are removed before eating. The fragrance of the "myoga leaves" permeates to make a flavorful snack. In addition to the breaks from farm work, there is a custom of making it as an offering to ancestors on August 13th during the Obon Festival, then the leftovers are eaten after the welcoming fire for the ancestors. With the fresh fragrance of myoga leaves and a simple sweetness, it was often eaten as a snack in times when confectionery were scarce.