Tochi-Mochi

Rice cake kneaded with horse chestnut, popular in Tsuruoka City

“Tochi-Mochi” is made by “Daifukujō” in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture. “Tochi” means “Horse chestnut” a tree nut that has been used for medicinal purposes and in Chinese medicine since ancient times. It contains many ingredients such as saponin, alloin, and tannin, and has a very strong astringent taste, so it is not to be eaten as is, However, by carefully removing the acrid taste, they have been valued as a preserved food.

The package has an illustration of the former Tsuruoka Castle. Daifukujo has been running a confectionery shop in Tsuruoka City since 1983, and is so familiar to the people of Tsuruoka City that the word “Tochi” is associated with “Tochi-Mochi”.

Standard shaped round rice cake, surprisingly soft to the touch.

I tried to cut it in half, but it was so delicate that I could not separate it properly. It was so soft that my fingers almost went into the rice cake, so I gave up taking a picture of the cross section and decided to eat it right away.

I ate it right after taking it out of the refrigerator, as it is recommended to be eaten chilled, and it was amazingly delicious! The moderate aroma of horse chestnut and the refreshing azuki red bean paste go perfectly together. The softness of the rice cake was amazing, but I felt an exquisite crispiness, probably due to the rice cake’s kneading of horse chestnuts.