Ohagi
Ohagi ( Japanese お は ぎ or 御 萩 ) are small rice cakes ( mochi ) in Japanese cuisine. Anko paste usually covers the rice cakes. They are made from rice , glutinous rice and anko. They are a dessert that is offered as a snack at the reception or at the meeting.
There are different kinds of ohagi, such as kinako , nori , sesame , zunda (the green soybean paste) and others.
Salt was used instead of sugar because sugar was expensive in the past. If you add a little salt, anko taste sweeter.
Botamochi ( ぼ た も ち or 牡丹 餅 ) are similar cakes, but are sometimes also called ohagi. There are different views on the difference between ohagi and botamochi.
A common view is that botamochi are made as forms of botan bloom ( peony ) and ohagi are made as forms of hagi bloom ( bush clover ). The botan bloom in the spring and the hagi bloom in the fall, so botamochi are sold in spring and ohagi in autumn.