Lonely_Planet_Asia_September_2017

JAPANESE FOOD TOUR

PHOTOGRAPHS: JUNICHI MIYAZAKI PHOTOGRAPHY, MIXA/GETTY IMAGES

Soybeans are a staple of Japanese cooking

• appearing in miso, natto (a fermented
  soybean) and tofu – and they grow
  plentifully in the fields around Sendai: the
  largest city in northeastern Japan’s Tohoku
  region. Edamame are young soybeans,
  harvested in the summer, a few months
  earlier than the ones that then go on to
  become tofu. Usually edamame are boiled
  and eaten with salt, served still in their
  pods in a wicker basket next to a frothy
  mug of a beer. Sendai, however, has a
  curious way of eating them: crushed into
  a paste and spiked with sugar, spread over
  springy cakes of pounded rice (mochi).
  According to Hiromi Hosoya, the owner
  of Endo Mochiten, edamame have been
  enjoyed in this way longer than anyone
  can remember. Local legend says that the
  feudal warlord (and famous gourmand)
  who ruled Sendai in the 1600s, Date
  Masamune, was a fan.
  Hosoya’s parents opened Endo Mochiten
  on an otherwise nondescript street in
  downtown Sendai in 1948. The shop is
  easy to spot; the outside is painted the
  same vibrant green as edamame. ‘My dad
  thought it would be best to stand out,’ says
  Hosoya with a laugh. The small kitchen in

CRUSHED SOYBEAN RICE CAKES

The bright green of fresh soybeans signals

summer. In Sendai, they’re used in this sweet

dish, traditionally eaten as a pick-me-up.

SERVES 6 PREP 30 mins plus cooling time

COOK 10 mins

500g (1lb 2oz) fresh edamame, or podded

and frozen

180g (6½ oz) sugar

pinch of salt

270g (9½ oz) mochi (Japanese glutinous

rice cake – see tip)

1 If using fresh edamame, pop the beans from

their pods and peel off the thin layer of skin

enclosing each bean.

2 Steam the podded beans for 10 minutes

in a bamboo steamer or in a sieve suspended

over a pan of simmering water.

3 Remove the beans from the steamer and

transfer to a food processor. Add the sugar and

salt, and pulse briefly to form a rough paste –

don’t over-process the beans, you’re looking for

some texture.

4 Spread the bean mixture evenly in a shallow

tin and let it cool to room temperature.

5 Place the mochi in the pan with the beans and

frost both sides of each with the bean paste. If

the paste is too thick to spread, add a splash of

hot water and mix before adding to the mochi.

ZUNDA MOCHI

the back of the shop is full of curious vintage

machines: one with a long arm that pounds

the rice for mochi with a rhythmic thwack;

another that whirrs as it grinds the beans

into paste. There are giant bamboo steamer

baskets full of beans and trays of mochi,

dusted with katakuriko (vegetable starch),

that look like melting marshmallows.

‘We make zunda mochi like it used to be

made with just edamame, sugar and a tiny

bit of salt. Not too much sugar. Just enough

to bring out the natural sweetness of the

beans,’ says Hosoya.

Zunda mochi has a fresh, verdant taste

and a subtle sweetness that pairs well with

green tea. Hosoya says you can reduce the

sugar and serve the crushed beans atop

summer vegetables, such as aubergine.

TIP Most Asian grocery stores will carry

ready-made mochi, but these don’t

compare to homemade ones.

Several Japanese home

appliance makers sell

tabletop mochi

makers where all

you need to do is

add rice and water

(available online).

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Zunda mochi served with a

cup of green tea. LEFT Picking

edamame (young soybeans)