Ichinoseki’s Famous Mochi Cuisine Has the Greatest Variety in Japan. The mochi cuisine of Ichinoseki dates back to the Edo period. There are over 300 types of recipes; some of the standard fillings and toppings -include sweet bean paste, sesame, soybean flour, and walnuts;-more unusual ones include grated daikon radish, ginger, marsh shrimp, perilla, and boiled greens.
There are traditional mochi dishes, such as Mochi Honzen, a full-course mochi menu served at weddings and funerals. New recipes have also been developed, such as Ichinoseki Moffie, a waffle made of mochi, and ingredients from Ichinoseki such as ham and fruits.
Ichinoseki is known in Japan as an area with the most abundant kinds of mochi dishes. The numbers are said to be about from 200 to 300 sorts. And the custom of eating rice cake in this district during the annual events reaches also more than 60 days a year. That rice cake culture started going back to the Edo period.
A mochi-eating contest might appear in questionable taste for some, so soon after January’s tragic headlines. But Japan’s no stranger to competitive eating, and Iwate prefecture loves its food contests. The northern prefecture’s 53rd annual national soba eating contest, set to attract a crowd of over 3,000 spectators, will be held this Friday on National Foundation Day.
Some 180 participants are expected to slurp down the Japanese noodles and try to beat the record of 254 bowls of 10g of soba eaten by last year’s winner in five minutes. Especially, “Mochi Honzen” is a rice cake dish peculiar to this district.
It imitates the Japanese Konzen cuisine formed by rice cake. If you would like to try mochi cuisine, you should stop by one of the restaurants in Ichinoseki after Geibikei’s boat trip.
https://www.iwate-ilc.jp/eng/ktimes/ichinoseki-the-land-of-mochi/
Kuramoto Restaurant Sekinoichi Address: 5-42 Tamura-cho, Ichinoseki, Iwate 021-0885 Tel: 0191-21-1144
Website: http://www.sekinoichi.co.jp/rest/
Sansaikan Fujisei Address: 3-53 Otsukigai, Ichinoseki, Iwate 021-0882 Tel: 0191-23-4536 / Fax: 0191-23-4537
E-mail: 110…@d2.dion.ne.jp
Website: http://www.fujisei.co.jp/contents/main.html
Cafe Monter Address: 2F Higashi Koryu Centre, 2-5 Yanagimachi, Ichinoseki, Iwate Tel/Fax : 0191-26-7300
Website: http://www.ichitabi.jp/area/info.php?flg_action=page_view&flg_no=53
Look local newspaper for an upcoming Mochi-eating contest:
http://www.iwanichi.co.jp/ichinoseki/
http://www.city.hanamaki.iwate.jp/sightseeing/1204161755523.html
