Sekihan literally red rice, is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese traditional dish. It is sticky rice steamed with azuki bean

Azuki bean

The is an annual vine, Vigna angularis, widely grown throughout East Asia and the Himalayas for its small bean. The cultivars most familiar in north-east Asia have a uniform red color, but white, black, gray and variously mottled varieties are also known. Scientists presume Vigna angularis var...

s, which give a reddish color to the rice, hence its name.

Sekihan is often served on special occasions throughout the year in Japan, for example, birthdays, weddings and some holidays, such as Shichi-Go-San

Shichi-Go-San

is a traditional rite of passage and festival day in Japan for three- and seven-year-old girls and three- and five-year-old boys, held annually on November 15...

. In some places it is customarily made when a young woman reaches menarche

Menarche

Menarche is the first menstrual cycle, or first menstrual bleeding, in female human beings. From both social and medical perspectives it is often considered the central event of female puberty, as it signals the possibility of fertility....

, although this is less common now than it was in the past.

Sekihan is so strongly connected with celebration that the phrase "Let's have sekihan" has acquired the meaning "Let's celebrate." It is believed that sekihan is used for celebrations because of its red color, symbolic of happiness in Japan.

It is usually eaten immediately after cooking but it may also be eaten at room temperature, as in a celebratory bento

Bento

is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware...

 (boxed lunch). Sekihan is traditionally eaten with gomashio

Gomashio

Gomashio is a dry condiment, similar to furikake, made from unhulled sesame seeds and salt . It is often used in Japanese cuisine, such as a topping for sekihan. It is also sometimes sprinkled over plain rice or over an onigiri...

 (a mixture of lightly toasted sesame

Sesame

Sesame is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for its edible seeds, which grow in pods....

 and salt

Salt

In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...

).

There are also regional varieties of sekihan. Some versions call for sugar instead of salt to give a sweet flavor. Others use Amanattō

Amanatto

is a Japanese traditional confectionery that is made of azuki or other beans, covered with refined sugar after simmering with sugar syrup and drying....

(sweetened bean confectionery) instead of azuki.