Microseason: Earth Begins to Freeze

WINTER

WINTER SIGNALS

EARTH BEGINS TO FREEZE

12 - 16 November

With these warmer-than-usual temperatures, it’s hard to believe that we have entered the microseason, Earth Begins to Freeze. But up in the mountains, the floor begins to freeze, just a bit, in the wee hours of the morning.

During this season, we celebrate Shichigosan, or literally 7-5-3. A holiday that brings the entire country together to wish for the healthy growth of the youngest citizens of our community. Boys, at 3 and 5 years old, and girls, at 3 and 7 years old, are joined by their families at nearest shrines to ensure their long and abundant life ahead.

This is also the season when we express our gratitude to the God of the Rice Paddies, and send her off with 16 rice dumplings as she makes her way back into the mountains until Spring rice planting season.

There is a dish that I have been working on for the past several weeks. And its parts are most poignant this time of year. A dessert that can delight children and adults alike. Incorporates a wide range of traditions and ingredients from snowy Hokkaido, all the way down to tropical Okinawa. And of course this includes, mochi rice in dumpling form.

From north, to south, and regions lying in between, the Japanese archipelago as a dessert.

Sharing Kyoto Research Institute’s study of these heritage materials:

HERBAL PLANTS

RICE

SEAWEED

—

Fruit braised in botanical tea-infused Okinawan black sugar with Hokkaido-inspired petit feremented citrus shito mochi over kombu dashi and mirin gelée

Photo credit: Momoko Nakamura