🍱 Sasamaki

Glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, tied with rushes, and steamed. It is a traditional food made in various parts of the prefecture, and is called "chimaki" in Japan, and in some areas it is rolled with bamboo bark. In addition to Akita, chimaki wrapped in bamboo grass can also be found in Niigata, Yamagata, and the Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture. Kumazasa has long been used as a folk medicine and valued as a cure for all illnesses. Bamboo grass leaves are said to have antibacterial and antiseptic properties, and have long been used to wrap preserved and portable foods. Glutinous rice is less abundant and more expensive than Uruchi rice, so it has long been used as a celebratory food. Sasamaki," or bamboo grass rolls, are a luxury food culture unique to this rich rice-producing region. In Akita Prefecture, sasamaki used to be an event food for Dragon Boat Festival and Sanaburi (a celebration of the completion of rice planting). In the days when rice planting was done entirely by women, farmers' daughters would return to their hometowns for "sanaburi vacations" and bring sasamaki as a souvenir from their wives' homes.