> **Botamochi** (ぼたもち or 牡丹餅) is a wagashi (Japanese confection) made with glutinous rice, white rice (ratio of 7:3, or only glutinous rice), and sweet azuki paste (red bean paste). They are made by soaking the rice for approximately 1 hour. The rice is then cooked, and a thick azuki paste is hand-packed around pre-formed balls of rice. Botamochi is eaten as sacred food as offering during the weeks of the spring and the autumn Higan in Japan. > Another name for this kind of confection is **ohagi** (おはぎ), the origin and meaning of which is a subject of debate, with some saying that ohagi uses a slightly different texture of azuki paste but is otherwise almost identical. It is made in autumn and some recipe variations in both cases call for a coating of soy flour to be applied to the ohagi after the azuki paste. > > Botamochi - Wikipedia Read more... (1 min remaining to read)

From Higan in Japan to the neo-Pagan holiday of Mabon, these equinox festivals welcome longer nights and chillier weather with feasting, reflection, and more.