Special Foods for The Doll’s Festival (Hinamatsuri) By: Alma Fatagani-Sato Chirashizushi (scattered sushi) is a type of sushi made with fish, shrimp, raw vegetables, The Doll’s Festival denbu (pink colored fish floss) (Hinamatsuri) also known as and kinshi tamago (thinly The Girls’ Day is a special day shredded egg) on the top of celebrated every March 3rd to vinegared rice. wish for girls to grow up in The Dodomese of Fukuoka of good health and happiness. Bizen Province (Setouchi City) is said to be the very origin of this The days preceding the festival, young girls hold parties with their type of sushi. There are various styles of chirashizushi and as friends and enjoy eating these such, the ingredients may also special foods prepared for the vary depending on each region, festival while playing the traditional game called Kai-awase. namely-- Edomae (Edo style), This is a shell-matching game (kai Gomokuzushi (Kansai style), Sakezushi (Kyushu style), meaning clam and awase Tekonezushi (Mie Prefecture), meaning matching) played and Barazushi (Okayama originally by nobles in the Heian Prefecture). It is also called Era. The inside of the shells were Okayama-zushi, Bizen-zushi painted with a picture and the and Matsuri-zushi (which are rule of the game is to find the the commercial names of matching shells. It’s very similar barazushi box lunches). to the western Memory Game, the only difference is that, cards Hishimochi is a multicolored are used instead of shells. The rhomboid-shaped rice cake typical special foods are: layers, which represents fertility. The colors of the three Arare (also known as kakimochi in other countries like Hawaii) are (3) layers from top to bottom three-colored, small bite-size rice are red or pink, white, and green. The red layer is colored crackers that shaped like pellets of snow, which makes it different using the gardenia fruit, the white using the water caltrop from the Japanese senbei (rice and the green using mugwort. crackers). They are made of Depending on region, the red popped glutinous rice and may be substituted with yellow, flavored with soy sauce. Each or it may have 5 or 7 layers color of these rice crackers have instead. meaning: White represents the earth of the winter, pink and red Amazake literally means sweet represent life, while green alcohol but is safe for children represents the green shoots in to drink since it has less than 1 the spring. It is believed that if percent of alcohol in it. It is a you eat each color, you will be traditional Japanese drink healthy during the year. made from fermented rice. Nowadays, it comes in many People usually drink it hot colors, sizes and varieties. during the cold winter days.
March - April 2021
You can buy it anywhere usually packed in glass bottles, cans or tetra bricks. Sakuramochi is a pink-colored rice cake (mochi) with a red bean paste (anko) filling, wrapped in a pickled sakura (cherry blossom) leaf. Different regions of Japan have different styles of sakuramochi. Kanto-style uses shiratama-ko (refined rice flour) to make the rice cake, and Kansai-style uses dōmyōji-ko (glutinous rice flour). Sakuramochi is usually eaten during the spring season, especially on Girl's Day (hinamatsuri) and at flower viewing parties. Ushiojiru (clam soup) is a clear soup with clams as the main ingredient, flavored with salt and sake (Japanese wine). Since the symmetrical shells snugly fit each other, it is a symbol of unity and peace of a couple. Some other foods enjoyed during the Doll’s Festival may also include the ichigo daifuku (soft, chewy rice cake with strawberries wrapped in red bean paste filling) and inarizushi (deep fried sweet tofu pockets, filled with rice). My personal favorite is the amazake. It’s low on calories since there’s no sugar content and it gives the energy boost you need whenever you feel tired. Drinking it is also believed to keep your skin and hair beautiful. If you happen to be in Japan during this festival, try to enjoy the taste of these special foods.
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