🍚 Tokibi Meshi (Rice with Corn)

A long time ago in this region, "tokibimeshi (rice with Corn)" was a staple food item that played a central role with boiled barley and rice. The seeds of Corn (corn) were planted during the summer in fields and land cleared by the slash-and-burn method. Corn was harvested about the middle of autumn. It was boiled and eaten like that as a snack or grilled and eaten. When Corn is harvested, it is tied in bundles and hung from bamboo poles under the eaves of stables and thoroughly dried. Then it is struck by cold winds that blow down from the mountains and develops a good flavor. The dried Corn is tread on through the use of a treadmill. The cracked dried Corn seeds mixed and cooked with rice is "tokibimeshi (rice with Corn)". It is the flavor of hometowns in the Takachiho region, such as Takachiho, Gokase, and Hinokage. During eras when rice was a precious commodity, the amount of rice was increased with cracked Corn, and the dish satisfied people's appetites. According to the history of Takachiho town, Corn made up 60 percent of the planted area of assorted grains during the Taisho period and was used for food and animal feed. The dish is also called "tokibigohan (cooked rice with Corn)."