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Jun 22, 2010

Wagashi #4 Asa-Shio 朝汐

Asa-shio
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This Wagashi is called Asashio which means "Morning Tide" in English.  It is a type of Japanese sweet that are called Manjuu.  They are steamed sweet cakes that usually have an outer bun with sweet bean paste inside.
 
History and Culture
Manjuu** are originally a sweet from China that came to Japan (How long ago?).
In Japan, are is used in various cultural events, such as weddings and funerals, and are sold at the supermarket.  They are eater year-round and do not try to represent a seasonal theme, like other types of Wagashi.  
 
There are congratulatory "Kouhaku-Asashio" which are colored red and white. They are usually given as congratulatory presents.  Kouhaku is a lucky color because red symbolizes 'birth' and white symbolizes 'death or parting'.  So kouhaku means 'The Life  of Human'.  There are also manjuu for funereals called, "Aoshiro-Asashio"  which are colored blue and white.

Teijo Nakamura who is haiku poet that lived between 1900 and 1988 wrote that Asashio was one of his favorite sweets.
Roots of the name “Asa-shio-朝汐” 
 There is a story about how this wagashi got its name.
One day a person saw a view of a big wave of the Sea of Japan beaten on the face of some rocks by the northwest wind. The wave became white froth and was scattered on the beach. The person made a sweet from this scene and named this sweet; "Asa-shio".
Appearance
The appearance is white like a cloud and image is based on sea foam.
The inside color is gray. This color is from some bean paste.

Sound (name)
Asa –Shio means “Morning Tide”.

Taste
It is not as sweet as wagashi which is made for matcha, such as “Yamakawa”.
The white yam used in this wagashi wrapper dose not smell very good.
The inside is strained bean paste with a few whole beans.
The inside bean paste is smooth.
The outside is cakey and fragile. The outside wrapper is only about 3 mm thick. 

#Manjuu's Recipe
①Peel the skin of a Yamato yam and rub it.
②You get " Joushinko flour" into the bowl and put the yam rubbed on its flour.
③Knead the yam pushing out on "Joushinko flour" for ten or fifteen minutes.
④Wrap it up with the dough of ③.
⑤Steam ④ in the basket steamer for about ten or fifteen minutes.






**Manjuu
 Manjuu is a sweet wrapped a bean paste with a dough made from flour and steamed. And it is a kind of wagashi that a Mantou in China changed. Manjuu is distributed in a felicity or funeral.
 Manjuu was hand down by a priest in China in the Kamakura or Muromachi period. Then, it was not put in nothing, by the way, it was got into a sweet paste.
 After Manjuu took root in Japan, people made many  idea or the recipe of a bean paste and a dough. For example, " Sai Manjuu" was pout in the boiled vegetables , it was made in the Muromachi period. In the Edo period, there was  " Sato Manjuu" and it was used the sugar. Sato Manjuu was distinguished the normal one. The common people liked it in those days. Recently, there are a few interesting Manjuu; " Hiyoko(chick) Manjuu", " Momiji(maple) Manjuu" and " Banana Manjuu" etc.



Jun 8, 2010

Wagashi #3 Natane no Sato 菜種の里 The Rapeseed Flower Village

 Natane No Sato



History of Natane no Sato  
The "Rapeseed Flower Village" wagashi was made first by a member of the Matsue clan between 1804 and 1818. His name was Doujun and he learned how to make the "Yamakawa" wagashi which is similar to the "Rapeseed Flower Village" wagashi. After he returned home from a trip, he saw the view of butterflies filtting around the rapeseed flower field on the way to the Kandenan teahouse with Fumai. He based the "Rapeseed Flower Village" wagashi on this scene. Its recipe was lost during the Meiji Restoration, but Eizaburo Oka of the Saneido wagashi shop recreated the "Rapeseed Flower Village" wagashi again in 1929.



“Natane no sato” Culture 
“Natane no sato” was revived in 1929. It was loved by Matsudaira Fumai. “Natane no sato” resembles flying butterflies in a rape feed field. It’s a traditional tea cake. It’s one of the three best wagashi in Matsue.



Roots of the name “Natanenosato-菜種の里”  
Natanenosato is the famous of wagashi in Matsue, gets its name from Matsudaira Fumai’s waka. This is Fumai’s waka translated by us into English. Suzuna is blowing. Morning wind is blowing in a field. A lot of butterflies are fliting. Sleeves gradually are increasing. This poem’s meaning in spring, Suzuna which is a kind of turnip is blooming in the morning wind in a field.The field is blowing wind. A lot of butterflies are flitting in the wind.  It seems as if the author thought of many girls wearing Kimonos with fluttering sleeves. 



Recipe of Natane no Sato
 Ingredients Sugar Glutinous rice (mochi) that has been steamed dried and then finely milled to make rice powder Puffed rice Red food coloring Yellow food coloring Yellow food coloring was traditionally made with the fruit from cape jasmines – a type of gardinia


①Combine sugar, glutinous rice, food colorings and unpolished rice in a bowl.
②Spray water on them with a spray bottle.
③Whisk them to combine evenly.  If you don’t knead well, separate.
    The Wagashi craftsman said, "I always knead for more than 20 minutes.”
④Alternate between step 2 and 3 until it become hard.
⑤Place the mixture the square block mold and gently press it into a block shape.
⑥Remoove from the mold and it is ready to cut and serve. 


Taste
It is sweet and it goes well with powered green tea.  


Texture
It is almost the same as Yamakawa (Wagashi #2 blog). -fluffy -moist -melts in your mouth  


Visual
It makes you think of a flower garden full of rapeseed blossoms. And you can see some puffed rice in it and it makes you think of butterflies.