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  6. Kinako Musubi

Kinako Musubi ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

  • Hiroshima Prefecture

    Kinako Musubi

Kinako Musubi

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  • recipe image

    Image Source: Kita Hiroshima Town Board of Education

  • Main lore areas

    Kita Hiroshima-cho

  • Main ingredients used

    Rice, kinako (roasted soybean flour), umeboshi (pickled plums), simmered soybeans, and salted kelp

  • History/origin/related events

    Kinako-musubi is a round omusubi with dried plums and thinly sliced salted kelp, covered with kinako (roasted soybean flour). It was served between rice plantings and at the end of the rice planting season called “dai-mite”. In Hiroshima, "Mite" means "disappear,” and Kinako musubi along with "Bara Sushi" and "Grilled Mackerel Chishamomi" are eaten. It is said that the sushi was made in a round shape with the wish that the seedlings planted would bear a full crop in the fall. In the Chugoku region, there is an event called "Hayashida" or "Tabayashi," in which a large number of people plant rice while playing drums and flutes and singing rice-planting songs. These events, which have been handed down from the Middle Ages, were a ritual for rice cultivation to worship the "god of rice fields" to pray for peace and a good harvest, and at the same time, they were a major event that served as a consolation for those engaged in the hard work of rice planting and as one of the few entertainment elements in the farming villages of the time. The "Hayashida" of Mibu, Kita Hiroshima Town, in particular, came to be called "Mibu no Hana Taue" (flower rice planting in Mibu) because of its extravagant pageantry, with the participating oxen wearing gorgeous flower garlands and dressed-up Saotome girls planting seedlings to the sound of drums and flutes. During this event, "kinako-musubi" is still served today, and is sometimes called "sanbai" or "sanbai-meshi. Sanbai" refers to the conductor of the O-hayashi, or the god of rice paddies.

  • Opportunities and times of eating habits

    It is eaten between rice plantings and at "dai-mite", which means the end of the work. The end of May to the beginning of June, when rice is planted.

  • How to eat

    The omusubi is filled with dried plums or thinly sliced salted kelp and covered with kinako (roasted soybean flour). The shape is usually round. Shinjo no Hayashida also offers musubi for the purpose of passing on the culture, but these are bale-shaped with black soybeans mixed in. The kinako (roasted soybean flour) is sprinkled on the rice to make it easier to eat during the rice-planting process.

  • Efforts for Preservation and Succession

    (Outline of traditions, preservation societies, social media use, modern approaches for commercialization etc.)
    Although "Hanataue" in Mibu ceased to exist for a time, it is now registered as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Asset of Japan and a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage through local efforts for preservation. At the same time, the custom of eating "kinako-musubi" (roasted soybean flour dough), an event food of "Hanataue," has also been handed down.

RECIPE

Ingredients (easy to make portions)

  • White rice 3 cups
  • Kinako (Roasted soybean flour) 140-150g (1 bag of commercial kinako (roasted soybean flour))
  • Sugar 90-105g (depending on the amount of kinako (roasted soybean flour) and your preference)
  • Salt Pinch to 2／3 tsp (it tastes better with a pinch of salt)

How to cook

  • 1. Cook white rice with a normal amount of water.

  • 2. Mix kinako (roasted soybean flour), sugar, and salt in a large dish.

  • 3. Divide the freshly cooked white rice into a bowl or rice casserole, cool slightly, and form into a round (spherical) shape.

  • 4. Put the rice balls into the bowl and roll them to cover the whole rice ball.

provider : Kita Hiroshima Town Board of Education

Recipes vary depending on the region and home.

Contact

Food Cultures Office, Overseas Market Development and Food Cultures Division, Food Industry Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Tel:+81-3-3502-5516

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