August 23, 2012

Mochi Awa/もちあわ

Mochi awa is a type of foxtail millet.
I recently learned that mochi awa contains six times as much iron as rice, that is, as much iron as liver.  My daughter has anemia, so I thought mochi awa would be a perfect addition to rice for her.
「もちあわ」(餅粟)は、粟(あわ)の一種です。
最近、もちあわには鉄分がお米の6倍も入っている、つまり、レバーと同じ量の鉄分が入っていると知りました。娘は貧血なので、もちあわはご飯に足すには最適だと思いました。

I mixed 4 go (4 x 180 ml) rice with 1/2 go (90 ml) mochi awa, and cooked in the rice cooker, with the amount of water for 4 + 1/2 go rice.
お米を4合ともちあわを1/2合、混ぜて、水は4 + 1/2合のお米用の量にして、炊飯器で炊きました。

For supper tonight, we had the rice and mochi awa with dry curry.
今日の夕飯には、ご飯ともちあわをドライカレーで食べました。
I thought that mochi awa was a little like corn meal in flavor.
もちあわは味がちょっとコーンミールに似てると思いました。

Edited to add two photos:
写真を二枚追加:

For lunch today, I mixed 2 go each of rice and mochi awa, and cooked them with the amount of water for 4 go of rice.
今日の昼ご飯には、お米ともちあわを2合づつ混ぜ、お米4合分の水で炊きました。
Very fragrant and flavorful.
とても香ばしく美味しいです。

6 comments:

Fräulein Trude said...

Did your daughter like it? If not, peas and white beans provide very good amounts of iron. Foxtail tastes very good in a vegetarian burger (burger patty made from tofu, mixed or single cerials and herbs).

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki: She seemed to like it. (I didn't bother to ask.) Thanks for the suggestion. A vegetarian burger sounds interesting. I want to feed her with a variety of iron-rich foods, but the problem with her is that she is a picky eater. That's why I tried mochi awa. She takes medicine after every supper.

Next time, I will mix one part rice and one part mochi awa, and see what it will taste like.

CFT said...

Won't that taste just the same as "2 go each of rice and mochi awa"?

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki, I'm sincerely intrigued by this plant. I have just checked the French name and will look for it in organic shops (they have lots of unusual grains). Most women lack iron (according to doctors and something tells me I'm in this group: I don't eat a lot of food rich in iron), so I will be happy to add it to my diet. Thank you for this discovery!

Hiroyuki said...

CFT: I'm not quite sure what you mean. Are you suggesting that in general, A and B cooked together taste the same as A and B cooked separately?

Anyway, in Japan, rice is sometimes cooked together with other ingredients, such as bamboo shoots in spring and chestnuts in autumn.

Sissi: I don't know how it's called in French, but mochi awa should be translated into something like glutinous foxtail millet. In Japan, there are two varieties of awa, uruchi awa (which is not glutinous) and mochi awa. They say that when you cook mochi awa with 2-3 time more water than usual, it will be like melted cheese. I will try it some day.

Sissi said...

Thank you, Hiroyuki. I always check plants and seafood by Latin names. In French it's called (among other names) "petit mil" (small millet) and I think I have already seen it in organic shops. I will only check if it's the glutinous variety I found on internet.