🍚 Yan-gome (Roasted Azuki Rice)
"Yan-gome" is a dish of roasted rice and boiled red beans cooked with sugar. While it looks like "Sekihan" (=red rice), it has a subtle sweetness and a light, fluffy texture. It is eaten during "Obon" festival, special occasions, and as a lucky charm dish for a bountiful harvest. It is also called by different names such as "Yan-gome," "Yaki-gome," "Ya-gome," or "Ei-gome," depending on the region. During "Obon" festival, when people do the welcoming and sending-off fires, it is a tradition to light straw on fire. It is said that while the straw burns, people chant, "Yan-gome Kui Kui, Mizu Nomi Nomi, Kono Akari de Gozeirasshai," and scatter rice and water until the fire is extinguished. "Yan-gome Kui Kui" means "Eat Yan-gome." "Mizu Nomi Nomi" means "Drink water." "Kono Akari de Gozeirasshai" means "Please come with this light." These manners are ways of welcoming and sending off the deceased. "Yan-gome" has been traditionally made using the leftover rice husks after the planting season, and it is a regional dish enjoyed not only during the Bon Festival but also on other occasions.