Kankoro mochi

Did You Know?

• Color ranges from green to greenish brown.
• When made using traditional methods, it cannot be consumed without being fried unless mixed with anko.
• Unlike regular mochi, the glutinous rice in kankoro mochi will melt when cooked for even a short amount of time.

Origin

"Kankoro", in Gotō's regional dialect, refers to thinly sliced, sun-dried sweet potato. Originally prepared as a non-perishable food for winter in the Gotō region, it has become a specialty of Nagasaki Prefecture. Sweet potatoes can be grown on the Gotō Islands despite a lack of flat ground and abundance of barren slopes, and they are resistant to typhoon damage, eliminating the risk of famine. These qualities made them a vital agricultural product supporting the islands' economy. Cultivation by commoners was recorded by the Kanbun era, and in 1833 the Fukue Domain promoted sweet potato cultivation. By the Taishō era it was the islands' most abundant agricultural product, though cultivation later declined as demand for shōchū and starch waned. Many households still make kankoro mochi for the Japanese New Year.

Preparation

Sweet potatoes are sun-dried for half a month, peeled, cut into thin round slices, boiled, and dried again to produce kankoro. Glutinous rice is washed, steeped in water for half a month, and steamed. The kankoro is washed in hot water, soaked briefly, then steamed. The steamed kankoro is mashed in a mortar, the steamed glutinous rice is added, and the mixture is thoroughly mashed. It is then formed into semi-cylinders.