Anmochi Zoni: Where to Eat, Prices & Hours (Kagawa)

Anmochi zoni is a Kagawa new year dish of a sweet white miso broth drawn from dried sardines, holding round mochi filled with sweet bean paste. It is said to have begun when common folk, wanting to enjoy once precious sugar at the new year, worked bean filled mochi into their zoni. The sweetness and the salt of the miso pair surprisingly well.

Highlights

Note the auspicious use of ingredients, such as slicing daikon and carrot into rounds to wish for harmony without sharp corners. The oozing sweet bean paste and mellow white miso create a flavor found nowhere else.

Enjoying the Seasons

It has been passed down in Kagawa homes as a bowl that colors the new year. Recently some shops work it into toshiakke udon, letting you enjoy a sweet taste unique to the season.

Access and Basic Information

This is a home dish made across the prefecture, especially in Takamatsu, and it is not something served in shops all year. During the new year season, local cuisine restaurants and eateries may serve it, and roadside stations and souvenir shops often carry retort pouches or cooking sets as gifts. If you want to try it outside the season, seeking out these processed versions is the surest route.

Practical Travel Notes

• Because it is home cooking, it is hard for travelers to find on demand at restaurants, and it is served mainly around the new year or at local cuisine restaurants with advance reservations.
• The white miso broth is on the sweet side, so scoop up and savor every bit rather than leaving it.
• Souvenir cooking sets keep well and can be recreated at home, which suits anyone who wants to enjoy it year round.
• Since sweet bean mochi in soup is a matter of taste, starting with a small serving to share is a safe bet.

A Quick Tip

If it is your first time, start with a small serving. One bite of sweet mochi with white miso may surprise you with how good it is. Rather than hunting for it outside the prefecture, visiting Kagawa at the new year is the easiest way to encounter it.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Season: The New Year period. The white miso used is prepared around December and matured for about a month to give it a sweet flavor (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries).
• Main areas where it is handed down: The whole prefecture. Round rice cakes filled with sweet bean paste, white miso, daikon radish, kintoki carrot and tofu are the basic line-up.
• Public facilities where you can try it: "Hanazono-tei" inside Ritsurin Garden, a Special Place of Scenic Beauty (Ritsurin-cho, Takamatsu City, tel. 087-831-5255 / 8:00-18:00), serves "anmochi zoni" in winter. Admission to the garden is 500 yen for adults and 170 yen for children.
• To try it year-round: The "an-zoni udon" at Honba Kanakuma Mochi Fukuda (1436-2 Nagareoka-cho, Kanonji City / around 10:00-14:00, closed Mondays) costs 660 yen. The white miso version is available only from November to March (price as of December 2023).

* Opening hours and prices at individual establishments vary from shop to shop.

(Sources: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, "Our Local Cuisine: Anmochi Zoni (Kagawa Prefecture)"; Kagawa Prefecture Tourism Association "Udon Ken Tabi Net" - Ritsurin Garden, souvenirs, rest areas and dining / visitor guide; Waga Kagawa Tourism Promotion Council "TRAVEL KAGAWA winter")

Information Sources

This article is compiled from Kagawa Prefecture's tourist information and from information published by the individual establishments. Prices, menus and seasons are subject to change, so please check the official information of each establishment for details.

Sightseeing Checklist

• Budget guide: From a few hundred yen a bowl; the rice cakes and set meals are reasonably priced
• Where to eat it: Restaurants and roadside stations across Kagawa Prefecture (mainly in winter and at New Year)
• Recommended time of day: Mainly at lunchtime; the season is the New Year period
• Avoiding the crowds: It is served only in a limited season, so check in advance
• Enjoy it together with: The flavor of white miso, Sanuki udon, and Kagawa's Japanese sweets