Ooh, I know! Well..., nope, that won't work. Hm. Let's try...*squints a bit* foxtail millet/awa/粟? Sure, why not!
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| The kanji for millet, arts-ified. A masterpiece, beyond all doubt. ;) |
Short Section on Science-y Stuff
As I've probably ranted before, the academic community has be-gifted many an incomprehensible scientific name for the flora and fauna of this world. But this time it's not so bad. Foxtail millet's scientific name is pretty short -- and it actually looks pronounceable: Setaria italica. In Japan, you can find people farming it in Shikoku as well as Kyushu.
History-ish Facts
Awa in Japan is as old as the hills -- or at least the Jōmon period, and that's pretty old (Depending somewhat on your personal perception of time, of course -- I mean we mustn't forget about the elasticity of our linear perception as humans which...I've gone off topic again, haven't I? Right then.) Looks like it started out in northeast Hokkaidō and went down.
It was part the "five grains" (or gokoku aka 五穀.) This is a group of grains (obviously) that has some cultural clout. F'r instance, you can find in the Nihon shoki as well as in the Kojiki. These grains, according to these heavy works, came from the murder-ified body of a goddess -- which goddess it was depends on the book. (Real appetizing, amirite?) And, f'r instance, the Heian period imperial court had rituals that involved the five grains.
Apparently, awa's not that common anymore. Before World War II it was. That seems kind of like an inversion from what you'd expect, at least in my opinion, but eh, I basically know nothing about Japan's historical economy and cultural preferences toward grain products. So yeah, anyway, on to uses!
Uses
People make this grain into candy (yes, candy), mochi (my super-vague and partly guessed understanding is it's pounded like mochi and served), dango, cooked and served on its own, and cooked with rice (with more rice than awa) and served. (The names of the first three are awa ame, awa mochi and awa dango, if you wanna know how to say it in Japanese. Dunno what you'd call the last two though.)
Gotta say, like a couple other foods I've written about, I have a high amount of skepticism when it comes to my ability to smile, nod and perform other necessary social tasks after tasting millet-flavored sweets of any sort.
A little caveat: Just don't let your awa get cold, unless you like giving your jaw a workout.
A Video
Here's a quiet, bilingual-y video showing a moon viewing dessert called Tsukimi Awa Zenzai. It's pretty much what it sounds like -- Moonviewing Foxtail Millet Zenzai (anko/red bean paste as bullion, at least that's what it is in this video). ;)
References:
Know thy grains!
"A Dictionary of Japanese Food: Ingredients and Culture"; Richard Hosking; 1995
"The Forgotten Japanese: Encounters with Rural Life and Folklore"; Miyamoto Tsuneichi (author), Jeffrey S. Irish (translator); 2010
Routledge Handbook of Premodern Japanese History"; Karl F. Friday (editor); 2017
"Rice, Agriculture, and the Food Supply in Premodern Japan"; Charlotte von Verschuer (author), Wendy Cobcroft (translator and editor); 2016
"The Cambridge History of Japan: Volume I Ancient Japan"; Delmer M. Brown (editor); 1993
