Pages

Nov 10, 2015

Wagashi #8 Senju Senbei


Senju Senbei - Waffle-Style Cookie with Cream Filling
by Mika Nishioka







I’d like to introduce “Senju Senbei” which I bought in the Arashiyama district of Kyoto.

This is the first time for me to introduce a Japanese confectionery on this blog.  I bought sweets in Kyoto since it was often to go to Kyoto in job hunting. Then, I interested in lovely shape, I choose this Japanese sweets because it was surprised to understand that it is Japanese sweets. 

It is said that this was the first Japanese confectionery made with a waffle shape in Japan.

The deep waves make the cookie look unique and gives it an extra crunchy texture.




It is delicious to eat as it is or you can enjoy splitting the cookie to eat the top and bottom separately.
Further, it is also possible to enjoy the difference between the cookie and cream because the cream is very smooth and thick.

This time, sugar cream was used for the filling but new flavors appear during the main yearly festivals.  For example, there have been organic hoji tea cream and strawberry black tea cream used in the cookies.

I think that this is one kind of Japanese sweet everyone can enjoy.  Even people who don't like wagashi are sure to like this.

So, if you go to Kyoto, please stop at Kogetsu store in Arashiyama to get this delicious cookie.




May 19, 2015

Wagashi # 7 Izumo Zanmai 出雲三昧


“Izumo Zanmai” 

by Moeka Matsumoto



This time I'll introduce a sweet called "Izumo Zanmai".
Izumo Zanmai are sold at "Keigetsu-do", a famous wagashi sweets shop in Matsue.
Because it was delicious when we tasted it, we recommend you to try it too.
Appearance is a little unusual.  It has 3 layers. Therefore, is also has three colors. The top layer is a cream color, the middle is dark brown, and the bottom rice cake layer is light gray.
 
 

The first layer is made from “Kanbaiko” a sweet flour made from powdered rice cakes.
 
 
Next layer is “Tsubuan”-a chunky sweet red bean paste.
 

Last layer is “Mochi”-a sweet rice cake.
 

It has a sweet fragrance like a rice cake.  It tasted sweeter than other wagashi we've tried.
 

It's texture is different and interesting. You can taste a lot of texture in one of the sweets. The reason is because of the big difference is the texture of the rice cake and the Kanbaiko”. 
The glutinous rice cake has the chewy texture of Mochi and Kanbaiko” has a slightly gritty texture.  The smooth sweetness of Tsubuan helps the textures and flavors combine.
 The combination is very tastyThree unique tastes combine in your mouth! What great teamwork!
Please try "Izumo Zanmai" by all means when visit Matsue.





Feb 5, 2015

Tukimi Dango 月見団子

 Tsukimi Dango” 
 



This Wagashi  has two kinds of dumplings.

The yellow dumpling seems to express the moon.

The image of the Susuki grasses (pampas grass) on the yellow dumpling are made with a fire iron. This decoration is simple and it gives us a lovely impression of autumn.
These rice cake dumplings are covered all over with a thick outer layer of sweet bean paste.

The texture is moist and smooth.



Because the peel of the adzuki bean is mixed into the bean paste, the flavor of the adzuki bean is quite strong.
The texture of the rice cake inside is chewy.


These are made of paste and bean jam both, but we can enjoy a different texture because the outside is reversed to the inside.


So Tsukimi Dango give us a sweet image of autumn. Wagashi pleases us in every season.

Everybody, please enjoy the seasons with Wagashi!!!

Umi no Kumo


Umi no Kumo

I will introduce "Umi no Kumo".

This name means "Cloud of the Lake".

We can buy it in Saiundo.







Matsue has Lake Shinji and it is very beautiful with the evening sun.

Umi no Kumo represents this sight.  The red lines are the colors of the evening sun as it sinks down in Lake Shinji.  The white lines represent the clouds around the sun.


This Japanese cake has characteristics of Japanese and western style confections.

The red line is made of Saiundo's original bean paste.

The white line is made of sponge cake with butter flavor.


We can enjoy eating it with the bean paste's smooth taste and the sponge cake's moist taste. This is refreshing and not as sweet as I thought.  It is a delicious combination!!


Umi no Kumo is such a nice Japanese cake that is good-looking and good-tasting.

I recommend it as my favorite sweet which is an expression of Matsue my hometown. 


Shunju


“Shunju”








Shunju is a wagashi that is an agar block covered with crystallized sugar. It has adzuki beans (sweet red beans) or yuzu (a type of citrus fruit) inside.

It looks hard and it is a little translucent.

Both flavors are quite sweet, and the yuzu one doesn’t taste sour, but it has a slightly sour yuzu fragrance.

The adzuki one is odorless.

The outside is crunchy and the inside is soft. This combination of contrasting textures makes it so enjoyable.  I hope you try it!








Wagashi Yamakatsura やまかつら


 Yamakatsura

I’d like to introduce a sweet I bought at a Japanese sweets shop in Matsue, Saiundo.

I bought the Japanese sweets, Yamakatsura, there. 



The green side was soft. It was like a sponge cake made with powdered green tea (this tea is called matcha in Japanese ) and it was a little sweet. The purple side was made of sweet red bean paste (in Japanese, azuki). It was a little bit hard like gelatin had been added, and it was very sweet. It was sweeter than the green side.

The food texture and taste of both sides were different but when I ate both sides together, it tasted terrific!

If you have a chance, you should try it!

tsuki no usagi

Let me introduce "Tsuki no usagi". 
The night with a full moon this month is on September 19th.
This sweet makes me feel the Autumn season.




Tukinnousagi is a steamed bun (manju) with a white and smooth outer layer.
The picture of a rabbit is drawn on the surface. It is said that we can see rabbits making rice cakes on the moon when it is full.


The contents of it is smooth sweet bean paste.
It is moist and fine.  It has smooth red bean paste inside.



This sweet has a spongy and slightly chewy texture when you're eating it.








Mizuhikiso 水引草


 We’ll introduce the wagashi Mizuhikisou. You can buy it at Keigetsudo, a famous wagashi shop in Matsue.

 Mizuhikiso means Jumpseed flower in English.
Mizuhikiso (Jumpseed flower in English)


The flower is not familiar to us, but it is cute with tiny red and white flower. The wagashi is decorated to represent the flower, leaf and vine. The light violet color is so beautiful!

The texture of this wagashi is soft and smooth. There is strained red bean paste (koshi-an) inside. And the outside is slightly sticky because it is made from white bean paste, rice flour and sugar (nerikiri). This wagashi has a gentle sweetness which complements powdered green tea.





菊日和

kikubiori


wagashi, Kikubiori
Photograph of real crysanthemums
It is very cute.

 
This wagashi represents an important flower in Japanese culture. The flower's name is kiku or crysanthemum.  This flower is connected with the royal family and it evokes an image of autumn.

This top flower part is made of jelly (agar). The wagashi artisan achieved a beautiful gradation of pink color.



The contents of Kikubiyori
The sound of the name makes me think of a crysanthemum on a clear day in Autumn.

The white part at the bottom has a thin, chewy rice cake outer layer. On the inside, there is smooth white bean paste. 

This has no fragrance or maybe a faint sweet aroma.

 It isn't very sweet either but it has a delicate sweetness to match this delicate flower.

Aki no kawa ; 秋の川

                                  
                                   Aki no kawa ; 秋の川

 I will introduce "Aki no kawa" to you.


Aki no kawa is beautiful!!!!!


I think that it represents a reflection of orange leaves in the stream.

The name "Aki no kawa" means "Stream of Autumn" in English.

It has a lovely orange gradation on the outside.

A colored leaf is very cute. This color is orange and yellow.
Thin pieces of clear and orange agar are laid on top of the wagashi to represent a stream.

This black part means a rock.
This is made by bean jam.

The texture of this wagashi is smooth inside with a chewy layer of
mochi on the outside.

This wagashi has no fragrance.

Taste of  bean jam is strong. Agar is sweet.

This wagashi is delicious!!!
Please eat, everyone!!!!!

Kurikinton




Kuri-Kinton




*Introduction

We ate one of the wagashi for autumn, Kuri-Kinton made by Keigetu-Dou in Matsue, Japan. We’ll describe it according to the five senses.





*Appearance


Its color is light brown and it looks like a chestnut.  There is a maple leaf that has a beautiful gradation, from orange to yellow on the top! 
If you look closely at the picture you can see some black areas on top of the wagashi.  This was probably done with a kitchen torch to add interest.



*Sound of the Name

This is named from a Japanese foods, Kuri-Kinton.
Let me explain differences between two Kuri-Kintons.
Kuri-Kinton(栗金団)is one of the foods in Osechi. Osechi are the traditional Japanese foods that are eaten from the first day of the new year.  Its color is gold or yellow and represents money. Kuri-Kinton is usually very sweet.


But, This wagashi, Kuri-Kinton(栗きんとん) is a different one. This Kuri-Kinton is less sweet than Kuri-Kinton(栗金団). And its shape, like a chestnut, is made with Chakin-Shibori (squeezing in a tea napkin).


*Touch

The texture of this wagashi is moist, creamy and soft.



*Smell

This wagashi has a light chestnut aroma.





*Taste

It has a rich chestnut taste.  It has only light brown bean paste that taste like chestnuts.
This wagashi has chestnuts and sugar but it isn't so sweet.







“Soba Joyo”





This wagashi (Japanese sweet) is a manju (Steamed bun) made with buckwheat flour.


Koshian (strained sweet red bean paste) is inside the outer steamed bun made from sobako (buckwheat flour).


It has a nice buckwheat fragrance and when you eat it, you will be able to taste the mild and earthy flavor of buckwheat.


The bean paste inside isn’t very sweet, so it has a simple and delicious taste.


There are roasted buckwheat kernels on manju.

I think Soba joyo is a refined wagashi.

Saiun-Do  ~The interview from Mr.Yamaguchi


We visited Mr. Yamaguchi who works at Saiun-Do to learn more about Japanese sweets, called “Wagashi” as part of our graduation seminar course for our university.





“Sain-Do” is a long-established wagashi shop which was founded in 1874.  It's main shop is in Matsue city, Shimane Prefecture.

We talked with him in a Japanese-style tea room on the second floor of the main shop.



After coming up the stairs, we were captivated by the many big wagashi art objects sculpted in imitation of such things as wild birds, peony, waterwheel scenery of the countryside, and the ancient Izumo Taisha Shrine. The thatched roof and flowing water of the water wheel were crafted finely in detail and it was hard to believe they were all made from sugar.



Students admire the confection sculptures



Lotus Blossoms



Japanese Red Maple



We entered the Japanese-style tea room after we finished looking around.  There we ate wagashi which we selected and matcha or powdered green tea. Mr. Yamaguchi came in after a few minutes and told various things about wagashi.  Below are images of the wagashi we selected.  We came in the summer so these seasonal wagashi were offered on the menu.















According to Mr. Yamaguchi, we can enjoy wagashi with our five senses.

1: Hearing  2:Sight  3:Sense of smell  4:Touch  5:Taste




Hearing is hearing the sound of name of the Wagashi and getting an image of the situation or particular image that the wagashi represents.


Sight is seeing the wagashi from various angles and relating it to the image.  Much care is taken to make wagashi beautiful and unique.


Sense of smell is enjoying the subtle fragrance of the wagashi.  It is subtle so that it won't interfere with the matcha that is drunk with it.


Touch is feeling the wagashi when you pick it up with your fingers or cut it into pieces.  wagashi are usually cut with a “Kuroyozi (a thick and slightly sharpened stick for eating wagashi)”.  Also, the texture or mouth-feel of the wagashi is enjoyable.


Taste is tasting the wagashi deliciously while keeping in mind the seasonal image.  Wagashi are generally not overly sweet.  However, some sweetness is important to balance the bitterness of the matcha. 



Doesn't this sound interesting!


He told us about the order to eat and drink matcha and wagashi. When we drink bitter powdered green tea after eating sweet wagashi, we don’t mind the bitterness of the matcha. It’s such a delicious combination.




Also, we understood that the climate of Japan is related to the background of wagashi. Mr. Yamaguchi told us that moist air and the four seasons which may be unusual in other areas are very important for wagashi.


High humidity is necessary to make delicious wagashi and preserve it. The four seasons are indispensable because wagashi attempt to express the beauty of nature.



In addition, we learned about Saiun-Do's efforts to promote wagashi overseas. They have held events featuring wagashi in the United States and France and they seem to be working hard to share wagashi with many people!

 But it was hard to make and preserve wagashi in those countries because of the dry local climate which didn’t match Japan's.  Also, perhaps it wasn’t easy for people there to understand the Japanese images of birds or scenery used to represent the seasons. So they seemed to have trouble appreciating wagashi. However, there are some people who said, “These are so good” and the activity was featured in the local newspapers. 


Mr. Yamaguchi said “We will continue to do our best and hope others enjoy our wagashi.” We students felt more attracted to wagashi after this visit. We thought that our appreciation  for wagashi should spread to many people (not only Japanese people but also foreign people.)



Thank you Saiun-Do for welcoming us so kindly and teaching us more about the wagashi in Matsue!