五ご平へい餅もち

ご

へ

い

も

ち

Meanings

noun

gohei mochi; skewered rice cakes with miso sauce

food / cooking

A regional dish from the Chūbu region, especially Nagano, Gifu, and Aichi prefectures. Pounded rice is shaped into cakes, skewered, grilled, and coated with a sweet miso or soy-sauce-based glaze.

長なが野の県けんの道みちの駅えきで五ご平へい餅もちを食たべた。
I ate gohei mochi at a roadside station in Nagano Prefecture.
五ご平へい餅もちは、味み噌そだれの香こうばしい香かおりが食しょく欲よくをそそる。
The fragrant miso glaze of gohei mochi whets the appetite.

Kanji

五five
平even, flat, peace
餅mochi rice cake
御honorable, manipulate, govern
幣cash, bad habit, humble prefix

Related words

焼やき餅もち
Grilled rice cake, often plain or with soy sauce, but not typically skewered or coated with a thick miso sauce like gohei mochi.
みたらし団だん子ご
Skewered rice dumplings with a sweet soy glaze, but smaller, rounder, and not made from pounded rice cakes.

Written forms

五ご平へい餅もち
Standard kanji spelling for this regional dish.
御ご幣へい餅もち
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; 五平餅 is much more common.

Etymology

The name is said to come from the shape resembling a gohei (御幣), a wooden wand with paper streamers used in Shinto rituals. The exact origin is uncertain, but it is strongly associated with the mountainous regions of central Japan.