WASHOKU - muuchii Demon Mochi Okinawa

https://washokufood.blogspot.jp/2008/05/okinawa-food.html

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muuchii 鬼餅 (むうちい . ムーチー) muchi, "demon mochi"
devil rice cake (oni mochi)
..... muuchi zamu 鬼餅寒（むうちいざむ）"demon mochi" in the cold
observance kigo for mid-winter



On the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, the day of MUCHI, rice cakes are offered to the deities and then eaten with the wish for the health and well-being of children.
They build a small hut called muuchiiyaa ムーチーヤー (mochi-ya) where children come to make a fire and eat the rice cakes. They have a song

oni no chibi yaki muuchii yaa 「鬼ヌ尻（チビ）焼き、ムーチーヤー」Burning the backside of an Oni.

The muchi are prepared with brown sugar or the local purple sweet potatoes. The dough is wrapped in fragrant leaves of ginger plants (月桃 gettoo, Alpinia zerumbet).
Sometimes the wrapped mochi are hung from the eves of the home to ward off evil spirits.

大梁に鬼餅吊す五寸釘
. oohari ni onimochi tsurusu gosun kugi .

Rice cakes (mochi 餅)

. onibi 鬼火 "demon fire", "devil's fire" .


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