Rice crackers

A type of dried confectionery. Among the Chinese confectionery imported after the introduction of Buddhism, one of the fruit cakes described in the Engishiki, "Kome," is the prototype of today's okoshi. The Wamyōshō reads it as "okoshi rice," and mentions the method of making it, saying, "Kome is made by mixing rice with honey and roasting it." This is not much different from today's method, in which glutinous rice is steamed, dried, roasted to make okoshi seeds, which are then solidified with starch syrup and sugar. It is one of the confectioneries that retains its ancient prototype. Nowadays, sesame seeds, soybeans, walnuts, peanuts, seaweed, etc. are sometimes added to the okoshi seeds. The Kokonchomonju records, "On the first day of the New Year, Hosshoji-dono (Regent Fujiwara Tadamichi) was present before Kokamon'in (Fujiwara no Masako, Tadamichi's eldest daughter and Empress Sutoku) and was given some sweets. When she served him some, she asked him to take a piece of rice cake and hold it up to his mouth and crush it. The cake fell into pieces and fell onto his formal jacket, but he was able to get it out. It was a truly wonderful experience." During the first half of the 12th century, when the Regent Tadamichi was alive, okoshi was a sweet reserved for the nobility. However, even though it was such an elegant sweet, it was obviously made crudely at the time and would easily crumble and fall apart.

By the beginning of the Edo period, okoshi had become a snack for the common people, but as the Cooking Story states, "Yokuinin (job's tears seeds) are thoroughly dried and made into the same texture as crushed rice," cheap ingredients such as job's tears and foxtail millet were used. In the Senryu Hyōmankuawase (Senryū Hyōmankuawase) of 1760 (the 10th year of the Horeki era), there is a poem that reads, "Foot soldiers eat rice like okoshi." This okoshi is a type of country okoshi that tends to vary in quality. In contrast, Tsu no Sei of Osaka improved on awa okoshi to create rock okoshi, which was made by heating it at the right temperature and gained a reputation for its firm texture. Today, there are many famous okoshi, including Osaka's rock okoshi, Tokyo's Asakusa's kaminari okoshi, and Fukuoka's Hakata okoshi. As a result, most okoshi have become sweets that maintain a moderate hardness. However, the twisted okoshi served at the festival every January at Shiratori Shrine in Zao Town, Katta County, Miyagi Prefecture, is a huge one-meter long sweet that is surprisingly soft, making it a rare treat that still retains some of the feel of rural revitalization.

[Fumio Sawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

干菓子(ひがし)の一種。仏教伝来以後に輸入された唐菓子(とうがし)のうち、『延喜式(えんぎしき)』に記載されている果餅の一つ「粔籹(こめ)」が、今日のおこしの祖型である。『和名抄(わみょうしょう)』では「おこし米」と訓(よ)み、「粔籹は蜜(みつ)をもって米に和し、煎(い)りて作る」と製法にも触れているが、これは、糯米(もちごめ)を蒸し、乾燥させてから、炒(い)っておこし種をつくり、水飴(みずあめ)と砂糖で固めるという今日の製法とさして変わっていない。古い原型を残している菓子の一つである。現在ではおこし種にゴマ、ダイズ、クルミ、ラッカセイ、のりなどを加えたものもある。『古今著聞集(ここんちょもんじゅう)』には、「法性寺(ほっしょうじ)殿（関白藤原忠通(ただみち)）、元三(がんざん)（正月1日）に、皇嘉門院(こうかもんいん)（藤原聖子。忠通の長女で崇徳(すとく)后）へまひらせ給(たまい)たりけるに、御くだ物（菓子）をまひらせられたりけるに、をこしごめをとらせ給て、まいるよしして、御口のほどにあてて、にぎりくだかせ給たりければ、御うへのきぬ（正装の上着）のうへに、ばらばらとちりかかりけるを、うちはらはせ給たりける、いみじくなん侍(はべり)ける」とある。関白忠通の存命した12世紀前半ごろは、おこしが貴族の菓子であったわけだが、それほど上品(じょうほん)の菓子でも、当時はすぐにぼろぼろとこぼれてしまうような粗末な作り方しかできなかったことがわかる。

　そのおこしも江戸時代初期には庶民の菓子となっているが、『料理物語』に、「よくいにん（ハトムギの種子）をよく乾かし、引割米のごとくにし」とあるように、素材もハトムギやアワなどの安価なものが使われた。1760年（宝暦10）の『川柳評万句合(せんりゅうひょうまんくあわせ)』に、「雑兵はおこしのような飯を食い」の一句がある。このおこしは、ばらつきやすい、いわゆる田舎(いなか)おこしの類である。これに対して、大坂の「津の清(つのせい)」が粟(あわ)おこしを改良した岩おこしは、火加減に妙を得た堅固な歯ざわりで評判をとった。今日では大阪の岩おこしをはじめ、東京・浅草の雷おこし、福岡の博多(はかた)おこしなど、名物おこしの数は多い。そして、ほとんどのおこしが適度の堅さを保つ菓子となった。ただ宮城県刈田(かった)郡蔵王町(ざおうまち)の白鳥神社で毎年1月の祭礼に出す捻(ねじ)りおこしは、長さ1メートルの巨大なものだが意外に柔らかく、田舎おこしのおもかげをわずかながらとどめている珍菓である。

［沢　史生］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例