Sankaku Chimaki (Plain Glutinous Rice in Bamboo Leaves)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 160 min
- Level
- Hard
- Servings
- 20 servings
- Ingredients
- 7
About this dish
Plain glutinous rice, with no filling and no seasoning, is folded into triangles of doubled bamboo leaves, tied with rush, and boiled for close to two hours.
Read more
In Niigata the dense, chewy parcels are unwrapped and dipped in roasted soybean flour mixed with sugar and a little salt. Triangular chimaki turn up in writings from the Nara and Heian periods, and because the leaves kept them from spoiling, they became food for breaks in farm work. Local legend credits the warlord Uesugi Kenshin with ordering them as battle rations.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Wash the glutinous rice until the water runs clear and drain it thoroughly in a sieve.
Do not soak it separately; leave it draining while preparing the leaves.
- 2
Wash the bamboo leaves and rush ties thoroughly.
Heat part of the boiling water and pour it over them until pliable. Pair the leaves and, if the rush strands are long, divide them to prepare 10 sets.
- 3
Fold one pair of bamboo leaves into a deep triangular pocket.
Divide the rice into 10 portions, fill each pocket, and fold the leaves tightly into a complete triangle without large gaps.
- 4
Tie each parcel firmly with rush so the leaves cannot open during boiling.
Check every knot and leaf end, and refold any gap through which rice could escape.
- 5
Bring the remaining boiling water to a boil in a large pot and add all parcels.
Hold them below the surface with a heatproof plate and simmer gently for about 2 hours. Add hot water as needed so they remain submerged.
- 6
Lift the parcels with tongs, drain, and cool until the steam subsides.
Mix the soybean flour, sugar, and salt evenly. Remove leaves and rush, cut each parcel in half, and serve one half per person with the kinako mixture.
References checked
These references were consulted when this page was prepared or corrected. A source check does not mean the recipe was independently kitchen-tested.
- 일본 농림수산성 うちの郷土料理
Checked: 2026-08-11
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