Part 4/8:
Miller offers insight into the crafting process while highlighting common frustrations encountered when recreating ancient recipes. For those interested, the primary ingredients for hyorugan include raw sugar, rice flour, cinnamon, yam, dried lotus seeds, coix seeds, and ginseng root. The preparation involves grinding these components—an homage to the methods of ancient Japanese culinary practices—with many believing historical advancements in tools have simplified the process.
The preparation of hyorugan involves a steaming process that turns these ingredients into a sticky, moldable mixture, allowing one to form them into balls. As the recipe notes, these energy balls were purported to provide sustenance and revitalization, suitable even for horses on lengthy journeys.