Homemade Shingen-Mochi

This was homemade Shingen-Mochi - my breakfast without J.

Shingen-Mochi, one of specialties of Yamanashi prefecture in Japan - small chewy mochi (rice cakes) covered with ground roasted soy bean and brown sugar syrup. I have been a huge fun of the sweets since I was a little child.

Shingen is the name of the one of Japan's famous warlords, Shingen Takeda (1521-1573), whose territory today is Yamanashi prefecture. Also, it is an old tradition in the region to put mochi covered with soy bean powder and brown sugar syrup on the household Buddhist altar during the Bon festival. Shingen-Mochi was born from the local culture and marketed with the name under the famous figure. 

My mother remembers I love Shingen-Mochi, but can't send it to me because of its short shelf life. Then, she kindly sent me mochi (rice cake), roasted soy bean powder, and brown sugar syrup from Okinawa, Japan separately for my birthday. So, I was able to make my own Shingen-Mochi. It was very close to what I remember.