Book of Days Tales

There are 2 equinoxes per year when the sun is directly over the equator, so that everywhere experiences 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. Technically the equinox is a precise moment when the plane of Earth’s equator passes through the geometric center of the Sun’s disk. This is also the moment when Earth’s rotational axis is directly perpendicular to the Sun-Earth line, tilting neither toward nor away from the Sun. It is “movable” in that the day that marks the precise moment of the equinox can fall on one of three days, but March 20 is the most common.

The March equinox is marked by celebrations in many parts of the world, but it is a national holiday in Japan. The treat of choice for the day is botamochi, balls of sticky rice wrapped in sweet red bean paste.

Ingredients

1⅓ cups (300 gm) Japanese glutinous rice*
2–3 tsp sugar, optional
⅛ tsp salt, optional
2 cups (900 gm) anko (sweet bean paste) choose from tsubushian (smooth with chunks), tsubuan (chunky) and koshian (smooth)

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Instructions

Prepare the rice: Rinse the rice. Add water and soak for exactly 30 minutes.

Cook the rice: Add water to the ‘sweet rice’ line in your rice cooker. Add the sugar and salt if using.  Note: soaked rice should be cooked with a 1:1 ratio. Select the sweet rice option on your rice cooker. Once it beeps, let it sit for another 10 minutes before opening.

Pound the rice: Have a bowl of water on hand. When ready, remove the rice from the rice cooker and pound with a wooden stick or rolling pin. Dip the end of the stick in water to prevent it from sticking as needed. Pound the rice a few times (about ⅓ of the amount).

Portion the rice: Lightly wet your hands with the water and scoop up 30-50 grams of rice, roughly mold it into a ball, and place onto a tray. Repeat until you use up all the rice and keep covered with a damp towel or cling wrap to prevent it from drying out.

Shape: Scoop up 75 grams of anko and spread it on cling wrap. Then place a piece of rice in the middle. Pick it up with your hands and mold it so the anko wraps around the rice. Unwrap and then place it onto a foil cup or plate. Keep covered. Repeat with the remaining pieces.

Serve: Serve at room temperature with matcha.