# Warabimochi ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Warabimochi

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
The whole prefecture

## Main Ingredients Used
Pure bracken starch, sugar, flour

## History, Origin, and Related Events
"Warabimochi" is a Japanese confectionary made by adding water and sugar to bracken starch, mixing together while heating, then cooling to a solid shape. Nara is particularly famous for producing bracken starch, so it has become a Nara specialty. Bracken starch is made from the starch contained in bracken roots, and it is extremely rare and valuable because it is laborious to produce and only a small amount can be harvested. For this reason, commercially available "warabimochi" is often made with starch from sweet potato, tapioca, or kudzu. In the past, there was a superstition that you could drive away the monsters that emerged from the Uguisuzuka Tumulus on Mt. Wakakusa by burning the mountain. From this superstition, people who passed Mt. Wakakusa began starting fires, which spread to the Todaiji temple grounds and nearby temples, causing constant danger. Eventually, Todaiji Temple, Kofukuji Temple, and the Nara magistrate's office, which are all adjacent to Mt. Wakakusa, became involved in the mountain burning. Lots of bracken sprang up after the mountain was burned, and the deer in Nara Park did not eat it so it grew in large amounts and eventually became a production area for bracken starch. This gave rise to the "Wakakusa Yamayaki," a traditional event that signals the arrival of spring in the ancient capital of Nara.

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
It is mainly eaten as a snack throughout the year regardless of the season, but it is especially popular to eat from spring to summer. In 1709, a visitor to the celebratory memorial service for the Great Buddha Hall of Todaiji Temple wrote in his travel diary "Neiraku Miyage" that there were "many warabimochi stacked up in the tea houses in from of Hachiman," and it is thought that warabimochi became a specialty around this time.

## How to Eat
Heat bracken starch, sugar, and water in a pot. Continually stir so that it doesn't burn, until it becomes semi-transparent. Turn the heat to low, stir until it becomes transparent, then continue stirring for about two minutes longer. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with soybean flour or brown sugar syrup.

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
It is sold throughout the year in supermarkets and Japanese confectionary shops. "Warabimochi" made with pure bracken starch is very valuable and only sold in a few high-end Japanese confectionary shops.

## Ingredients
- Bracken starch: 80g
- Granulated sugar: 128g
- Water: 240g
- Corn syrup: 32g
- Soybean flour with sugar: Appropriate quantity
- Brown sugar syrup: Appropriate quantity

## Recipe
1. 1. Mix the bracken starch and granulated sugar together, then slowly add in the water while mixing continuously.
2. 2. Strain the mixture from step 1 through a sieve, the put into a pot and heat. Stir over low heat to avoid burning the bottom.
3. 3. Once it forms a single lump, steam for about 8 minutes until it becomes transparent.
4. 4. Pour it back into the pot, add the corn syrup, stir it over low heat, and continue to thicken until it achieves the characteristic elasticity of Warabimochi.
5. 5. Once thickened, transfer to a bowl sitting in cold water to cool it down.
6. 6. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with soybean flour or brown sugar syrup to taste.

## Provider Information
provider : Kippouan Co., Ltd.

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