Boiled rice cake, an exquisite snack from Oita Prefecture
Yudemochi is a well-known confectionery of Oita Prefecture. A dough made of kneaded wheat flour is used to wrap azuki bean or sweet potato filling, which is then boiled.
Material ( for one person )
wheat flour proper quantity
water (esp. cool, fresh water, e.g. drinking water) proper quantity
Fillings of your choice, such as adzuki beans, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, cream cheese, etc. proper quantity
Today, November 14, is "Oita Citizens' Day," which is said to derive from the fact that Oita Prefecture was created in 1871 as a result of the abolition of feudal domains. Oh, I (the author) am not from Oita, so I looked it up on Wikipedia.

So, I would like to introduce a famous confectionery of Oita Prefecture, " Yudemochi " to those in the know! Some of you may have heard of it? It is a flat pastry made of dough kneaded from wheat flour, filled with azuki bean or sweet potato bean paste, and boiled. It is very simple, but very tasty.

Grandma's boiled rice cake, that was delicious.
Grandma's boiled rice cake, that was delicious.

When I traveled to Oita Prefecture, I had boiled rice cake made by a local grandmother, and it was so delicious that I couldn't help but smile.

I want to eat it...but I can't find it. Then let's make it by ourselves! So I looked for a recipe on the Internet, and conveniently found a recipe on the Oita Prefecture website.

Try making boiled rice cakes!
Try making boiled rice cakes!

The recipe is very simple. After kneading flour with a pinch of salt and water, let it rest for a while, then fill it with sweet bean paste made from azuki beans or sweet potatoes, mash it flat, and boil it. This time, we used canned azuki beans, drained of water, and sweet potatoes boiled, mashed, and finished with sugar.

It's easier to wrap it up if you roll it up like this.
It's easier to wrap it up if you roll it up like this.

Note that if the azuki beans are too watery or have few grains, the inside of the azuki bean paste will be scabby after boiling, and when you cut it, the cross section will look like Morse code, which will make you sad.

two-tone dot
two-tone dot

Now, let's see. The dough is smooth and smooth to the touch, and the sweet and chewy bean paste appears through the thin but chewy dough! It's not quite as good as grandma's boiled rice cake, but yes, it's still delicious!

It looks a little awkward, but it's charming.
It looks a little awkward, but it's charming.

I love this rustic taste.
I love this rustic taste.

And then I realized something. Since the dough is not sweet, I thought that the filling could be anything other than azuki beans or sweet potatoes, or even a salty side dish, so I tried wrapping various other things inside!

1. "Rainbow" with the "big three" autumn tastes: sweet potato, chestnut, and pumpkin.
The color is subdued, but the taste is rainbow!
The color is subdued, but the taste is rainbow!

2. "Stewed apple and cream cheese" in a fashionable style.
A bit like a western sweet!
A bit like a western sweet!

3, "Fried mushrooms with cheese" as a side dish
The crunchy texture of the mushrooms is alive.
The crunchy texture of the mushrooms is alive.

4、Autumn fish is "broiled saury (canned)
Today's dark horse
Today's dark horse

The most delicious of all was the " Cooked apple & cream cheese". The juicy sweetness of the crisp apples is complemented by the rich, sticky acidity of the cream cheese. The spicy aroma of the cinnamon added to the apples also worked well. I think this could be a "warm cream daifuku" of sorts.

The dark horse of the meal, the kabayaki saury, was surprisingly delicious! Immediately after boiling, it looked like a fossil excavation kit, but when you try it, the slight saltiness of the dough and the sweet and spicy flavor of the saury go perfectly together. It is more like udon or suudon than a snack.

Something's buried...
Something's buried...

The boiled rice cake we made this time is of course delicious freshly boiled, but it is also delicious wrapped in plastic wrap, taken off the heat, and refrigerated until the heat has subsided. The moist dough reduces the taste of wheat, and the flavor of the ingredients inside comes to life even more.

I found that both sweet and salty red bean paste can be used to make this dish, so it can easily be made with ingredients you have at home. The ingredients are inexpensive, and it is convenient to make a lot of them and freeze them. If you get tired of the usual snacks, please give it a try! (I skipped a lot of the recipe, so please refer to the Oita Prefecture's website for the detailed recipe, including quantities, etc.)