Spring Botamochi and Autumn Ohagi. Botamochi (also called Ohagi) is a Japanese dish that can be a dessert, snack or a 'meal'. It is sticky rice ball coated with sweet red bean paste. Interesting fact - Botamochi is a name used during Spring and Ohagi is a name used in Autumn.
Growing up in Japan, I remember we had a lot of cultural, seasonal, and sometimes Ohagi or Botamochi is one of those special foods we enjoyed during spring and autumn equinoxes every year.
They are sweet rice balls filled or coated.
The fall (autumn) higan is aki no higan, and the spring higan is haru no higan.
You can cook Spring Botamochi and Autumn Ohagi using 4 ingredients and 14 steps. Here is how you cook it.
Ingredients of Spring Botamochi and Autumn Ohagi
- You need 300 ml of mochi rice.
- It's 100 ml of white rice.
- It's 1/2 tsp of salt.
- You need of Tsubu-an (sweet chunky azuki bean paste).
Ohagi, or botamochi, are sweet rice balls which are usually made with glutinous rice. They are commonly eaten during higan periods in spring and autumn, a Buddhist holiday celebrated by Japanese sects during both equinoxes. The name, ohagi, came from the autumn flower, hagi (bush. Generally speaking, the "botamochi" is eaten in spring, while the "ohagi" is eaten in autumn.
Spring Botamochi and Autumn Ohagi step by step
- Prepare your tsubu-an (see this recipe for my homemade tsubu-an: https://cookpad.com/en/recipes/148675) https://cookpad.com/us/recipes/148675-the-ultimate-anko-paste-tsubu-an.
- Combine the mochi rice and white rice and rinse it. Add the rice to a rice cooker with the same amount of water as cooking regular white rice. Leave the rice to soak for 30 minutes then cook as usual. Steam for another 10 minutes..
- Transfer the rice to a bowl. Using a wettened wooden pestle, half-mash the rice..
- Using wet hands, shape the rice into the amount of botamochi and ohagi that you would like to make. Shape the tsubu-an into the same sizes..
- Pick up the balls of tsubu-an and flatten them in the palm of your hand. Add a ball of mochi rice on top. Wrap the tsubu-an around the rice whilst perfecting the circular shape..
- And the ohagi are done. For bigger ohagi it's better that the tsubu-an doesn't stretch all the way around. The plate won't get as dirty and the ohagi will be easier to pick up..
- How to make 3 kinako ohagi: Combine 2 tablespoons kinako and 3/4 to 1 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl..
- How to make 3 sesame ohagi: Ground black sesame seeds: 2 tablespoons Sugar: 3/4-1 tablespoon Combine the sesame seeds and sugar in a small bowl..
- Make the rice balls very large, about 1.5 times the size of the ones in step 4. Make the balls of tsubuan half the size of the ones in step 4..
- Place a rice ball on top of a sheet of cling film and flatten it out to around 10 cm diameter. Place a ball of tsubu-an on top..
- Gather up the wrap and use it to shape ohagi into a ball..
- Place the balls into a dish of either the kinako mixture or the sesame mixture and roll them around until completely coated. Done!.
- The center should look like this..
- You can keep leftover ohagi in the freezer. Please freeze them while they are still soft. If you don't defrost them in the microwave they will stay soft..
The critical difference is the "red bean filling" wrapped in rice ball outside! It is the harvest time of red beans during the Ohigan of autumn (Shūbun), the freshly harvested red beans are very soft. Although botamochi and ohagi are the same, botamochi is served in spring, while ohagi is served in autumn, and is supposed to resemble hagi, also known as bush clover flower. These sweets are especially popular around spring and autumn equinox, when numerous Japanese people visit. Ohagi and Botamochi are traditional Japanese sweet dumplings for Higan, a public holiday in Japan.
