Himuro Manju
The other day, in my weekly Japanese class, I learned about the local custom in Kanazawa of eating himuro manju on July 1st. These are buns that have a sweet red bean paste in the center of them. “Himuro” means ice house, in Japanese, and they were used during old times such as the Edo period for storing ice for long after the winter had passed. In fact, snow would be packed into one and stored until mid summer, it would then be carried on foot across the country from Kanazawa to Edo (now Tokyo) and given to the shogun of Edo on July 1st as a cool gift in the hot summer. It would take about two to three weeks to transport the snow to Edo. Pretty impressive. I wonder if there was a snowball fight once it arrived!
So the himuro manju (ice house buns) get their name for looking like an ice house with snow (the sweet beans) packed inside, and they’re eaten on July 1st in celebration of this tradition.
The himuro manju are quite delicious so it was quite unfortunate that I had to share. The outside of the bun has a little bit of chewiness to it and the bean paste in the center is the star of the show. I’ve had sweet red bean paste before in other Japanese treats, but this time it really stood out for me. I recommend trying a himuro manju if you ever have the chance!
先週の土曜日の日本語レッスンでは、金沢の風習で、7月1日に食べると言う、氷室饅頭について学びました。そのお饅頭は、中にアンコが入っています。
金沢では、江戸時代、氷室という保存庫に雪を入れて、冬が過ぎても、氷をうまく保存していました。
夏の半ばまで保存され、徒歩で金沢から江戸まで運ばれ、7月1日に、将軍へ献上されていました。
江戸迄雪を運ぶのに、徒歩で2、3週間かかっていました。凄い話です。到着と共に、雪合戦はあったのでしょうか!
氷室饅頭は、その形が氷室に似ているので、昔の風習に習い、7月1日に食べるようになったという事です。とても美味しかったので、分けて食べなくてはいけなかったのが、残念でした。
外側は、少しもっちりとしていて、中のアンコが主役です。他の和菓子でも、アンコは食べた事がありますが、これはとびきりおいしかったです。皆も、食べるチャンスがあれば、ぜひオススメです。