A Little Atypical Warabimochi

Warabimochi Looking cool and refreshing, don’t you think? These are called warabimochi (bracken-starch dumplings). For those who have never heard of such a thing before, warabimochi is one of the refreshing Japanese summer sweets and awfully easy to make. You just mix bracken-starch powder, sugar and water, heat in a saucepan, pour into a vat, refrigerate, and when settled, cut into bite-size chunks and sprinkle/coat with sugar-mixed kinako (roasted soybean powder). Some people love them with dark syrup. Those who know warabimochi might feel like yelling at the photo, “But obachan, what is the aonori (green laver flakes) doing on top of the dumplings? Hey, they are not takoyaki!! ” I know, I know. It is not very common to eat bracken-starch dumplings this way. But I like it because a little bit of laver flakes adds a refreshing flavor. It is not my own idea…it's something I learned last year from a vendor. This may not apply to Kanto area, but in Kansai in summer, you often hear the pre-recorded voice from warabimochi vendor’s van, repeating “waaa--rabiii--mochiiiii---.” I usually buy the dumplings at a supermarket, but just once last summer, I bought some from a vendor in Kochi city. He asked me if I wanted aonori in addition to kinako, and from curiosity I said yes. Since then it has been my habit to eat this dessert with both kinako AND aonori. These are from a supermarket, not home-made I guess warabimochi is more commonly served like this. Anyway, it is a wonderful summer dessert with a LONG history (-- said to be invented about 1,000 years ago). The dumplings are a lot stickier than jelly and really remind you of the texture of mochi (rice cake), which is almost addicting… at least, for me ;)