Ayugashi, one of my all time favorite wagashi is available now. It, like the actual ayu sweetfish will be in season for another month or so. I had my first of the year today from perhaps my favorite ayugashi maker, Heianden.

We did a very exaustive article last summer about ayugashi, also called wakaayu and our favorite shops in Kyoto, so I will not go into great detail on that here. You can read that article right here. (It is, I think, my favorite KyotoFoodie article.)

Heianden: Ayugashi

So, I was over near Heian Shrine today visiting the Kyoto Museum of Traditional Crafts giving them another opportunity to convince me that a tree trunk can be protected by copyright for an article on OpenKyoto.

Afterward I zipped around the corner and down the street to Heianden intent on getting my first ayugashi of the year, which I did. I also bought their meibutsu (famous product) kuzuyaki, which was quite good. Their other meibutsu, whose name I cannot recall, I did not buy, which I now regret. Next time. I did take a picture of it in the show window though.

Heianden: Ayugashi

This is the storefront of Heianden, it is just down the street from Heian Shrine and all the museums in Okazaki Park.

Heianden Store Window: It’s Early Summer

Heianden Meibutsu: Heian Mochi

I had this awhile back and really liked it, I can’t recall exactly what it tasted like.

Heianden: Ayugashi Package

I do love this package, and it isn’t too excessive.

Heianden: Ayugashi

Not the most beautifully articulated ayu sweetfish, but pretty good.

Heianden: Ayugashi

Heianden: Ayugashi

Bubbly soft gyuhi mochi filling, yum!

Kuzu Yaki
People in Kyoto are into kuzu. Remember, kuzu is the starchy root from rural Nara prefecture that Japanese love to make summer sweets with. This is azuki kuzu that has been coated with an egg white mixture then cooked a bit. Yaki is to bake, cook or grill in Japanese.

Heianden: Kuzu Yaki

I am not always a big fan of azuki paste, usually it is too sweet for me. Of course ‘too sweet’ isn’t ‘Kyoto’, ‘Kyoto’ is subtle, sophisticated and delicate.

This was my first time to have this. (I think there is a tiny wagashi shop in my neighborhood that I have seen it at but you had to order like 10 peices minimum or something like that, so I never got it.)

How did it taste?
The surface is pleasantly al dante and offers some resistance as you bite through it.  That must be from the egg coating. The inside is firm but not too firm like jelly. It is spongy but a little bubbly too. Not chewy bubbly like gyuhi mochi though because somehow while it isn’t dry and crumbly it feels like it almost is. I didn’t get that at first, then when I did, I thought that the feel, the sensation of chewing it was very ‘Kyoto’. At first I was disappointed but then I realized that this was the real deal, real Kyoto. I had missed the point in the first bite. This is what things in Kyoto are supposed to taste (and feel) like! You’ve got to be aware as you eat in Kyoto or you might miss the point. But don’t get all uptight about it though, it is Kyoto brand hedonism, but it is still hedonism. And I say, BRING IT ON!

Heianden: Kuzu Yaki

Heianden: Kuzu Yaki

Heianden: Kuzu Yaki

Do check out our definitive ayugashi article from last year. It has a link to the Google map for the Heianden location.

It is May and the most historic festival in all of Japan, the Aoi Matsuri is upon us. Iron Chef Defeater, Yoshimi Tanigawa of Kyoto’s famed Kichisen restaurant artfully uses the symbols and themes of the Aio Matsuri and seasonal leaves and ingredients for Kichisen’s May kaiseki menu.

Mr Tanigawa offered to let us do an article about his Kyoto kaiseki creations for the month of May which has both the Tango no Sekku (Boy’s Day/Festival) and Aoi Matsuri (Hollyhock Festival). Late spring verdant green, new leaves and seasonal sprouts, buds and fish abound. At Kichisen, flower arrangement and food meet in Mr Tanigawa’s natural and artistic culinary creations.

Sakizuke (Appetizer) with Seasonal Leaves and Iris

(click photos to enlarge)

Japan’s most historic festival, the Aoi Matsuri is to please the deities of the Kamo Shrines (Kamigamo and Shimogamo) and to avert famine and epidemics. For 15 centuries, people in Kyoto have put on this festival on. Kichisen borders Shimogamo Shrine and utilizes the shrine’s aoi (hollyhock) leaf in it’s logo. See photos at the end of this article to see the distinctive hollyhock plant and tiny, delicate flowers. (More about the Aio Matsuri on OpenKyoto coming soon.)

These are the first 5 courses (7 dishes) of the 12 course ‘May’ kaiseki meal.

Sakizuke (Appetizer) with Seasonal Leaves and Iris

The leaves: top two are aoi, then a whole iris and the bottoms leaves on the bottom layer are kashiwa oak leaves. Inside the kashiwa leaves are the appetizers.

The Oak Leaf Wrapped Appetizers
梅干しの天ぷら: Umeboshi Tempura (umeboshi is pickled plum)
賀茂茄子の田楽: Kamonasu Dengaku (Kamo Eggplant Miso Dengaku)
バイ貝と大根のうま煮: Baikai Daikon Umanin (Simmered Ivory Shell and Daikon)

Heian Chimaki and Uni and Yomogi (Mugwort) Tofu

Heian Era Chimaki
平安粽: Chimaki is usually a rice or sweet dish that has been wrapped in the leaf of the ‘sasa’ bamboo plant. At Kichisen, they continue to make chimaki the way it was made when Kyoto was founded 1200 years ago.

Wanmono: Yoshino Hamo Eel (Soup)

Hamo Eel
Hamo is synonymous with fresh fish in Kyoto as it was, historically the only fish from the sea that could be transported to Kyoto and still be alive when it arrived. Hamo is bony and requires a special ‘bone cutting’ technique in order to make it edible. This delicate soup is made with kuzu root (starch) from Yoshino in rural Nara prefecture. The green citrus is a very, very young yuzu.

The droplets of water on the lid are sprinkled on using a chasen, the whisk for making maccha in the tea ceremony.

Mukozuke: Tai, Ika, Kuruma Ebi Sashimi

Awabi (Abalone) Sushi

Soboku
Abalone season has just started in Japan. Traditionally, when fishermen collected them they would be tied up with straw. As Kichisen’s kaiseki retains a deep connection to the tea ceremony, this kind of natural simplicity is incorporated into the dishes. This is the kind of thing that makes Kichisen different from many other kaiseki restaurants in Kyoto.

Hassun: Various Fish Dishes

Hassun: Various Fish Dishes

Food Porn, the Kyoto Perspective
I asked Mr Tanigawa if I could photograph the other courses in this meal but he said that if you want to see them all you have to come to Kichisen for dinner. Interestingly, he said that if you show photos of everything, it cheapens it. Yes, that is a very ‘Kyoto’ approach — don’t show too much. (I am down on a lot of traditional Kyoto attitude, but I think I agree with his judgment on this point.)

Kichisen Restaurant

Kichisen Interior

Kichisen Gate

The plants on either side of the stone steps are aoi hollyhock.

note: The photos above are the property of Kichisen and may not be republished without permission (as often happens with my photos).

Aoi

Aoi Hollyhock

Aoi Hollyhock Flowers

Notice the tiny flowers under the leaves. This variety of hollyhock reminds me of strawberry plants far more than the hollyhocks that I used to grow back in Minnesota!

I collected some fallen ginkgo leaves on the grounds of a shrine and a church in northern Kyoto for this article, while shooting these photos I was particularly struck at how similar the namagashi really resembled the actual leaves, both in form and in color.

Ginkgo Leaves Inspire Confection
The ginkgo, or icho in Japanese, is a tree that has a leaf said to be shaped like a duck foot. Kyoto is best known for it’s maples in the autumn but around the city there are a number of remarkable and towering ginkgo trees that turn yellow and rain down thick, heavy leaves that never seem to dry out and thus are not easily scattered by the wind. They amass like snow beneath the tree.

The ginkgo leaf is the inspiration for a namagashi from a 300 year old shop in Gion called Kagizen Yoshifusa.

Ginkgo Leaf Shaped Wagashi

Ginkgo leaf shaped namagashi and real ginkgo leaves.

Sightseers Taking in the Autumn Colors in Kyoto 紅葉
Hanami 花見, or cherry blossom viewing of the spring in Japan is well known abroad, in the autumn koyo 紅葉 is just as popular. Kyoto has numerous places for koyo.

Kyoto Autumn Colors – Sightseers

Kyoto Autumn Colors – Sightseers

Kyoto Autumn Colors – Ginkgo Leaves

Kyoto Autumn Colors – Ginkgo Leaves

Kyoto Autumn Colors – Fallen Leaves on Shrine Roof

Kyoto Autumn Colors – Ginkgo Tree and Shrine

This ginkgo tree is one of Kyoto’s biggest.

Kagizen Yoshifusa Wagashi Shinise in Gion 鍵善良房
While we were walking back from some errands near Kiyomizu Temple, Miwa took me around to several of her favorite shops in the neighborhood. As she lived in the neighborhood for two years when she worked at Gion Hatanaka, she has many. Last we dropped into Kagizen Yoshifusa, a shinise known for it’s kuzu based wagashi that started around 1720. Kagizen Yoshifusa is especially known for it’s confections made with kuzu root.

When we walked in, this ginkgo leaf shaped namagashi immediately caught my eye. The simplicity and restraint in expression is representative of Kyo-gashi 京菓子 (Kyoto wagashi).

Kagizen Yoshifusa Noren

Kagi means key in Japanese. That is a key on the shop curtain, or noren. Now that’s an old fashioned key!

Ginkgo Leaf Shaped Namagashi from Kagizen Yoshifusa – Wrapping

Ginkgo Leaf Shaped Namagashi and Ginkgo Leaves

Ginkgo Leaf Shaped Namagashi – detail

Ginkgo Leaf Shaped Namagashi and Ginkgo Leaves – detail

Taste
As is typical of namagashi, the confection looks remarkably like something in the natural world that with artful folding, pressing, wrapping or sculpting is formed from mochi and filled with a sweetened bean paste, either white or red.

The actual taste though refined and delicately sweet does become less unremarkable with time.

Perhaps I digress but; Please, someone try making namagashi that tastes like something different! Enough with centuries with nearly zero variation. How about some kaizen?!

Kuzu Root – Photo in Kagizen

The Yoshino region of Nara Prefecture is famous for it’s kuzu root which is used to make some kinds of traditional Japanese confections. This photo is in the entry to Kagizen. By the way, kuzu was not used in this namagashi.

Reference and Links
Kagizen Yoshifusa website (Japanese language)
Kuzu Wikipedia article

Demachi Futaba is one of Kyoto’s most popular shinise mochi shops, famous for tasty confections and long lines! It is common to see taxis waiting while tourists make a last minute purchase of Kyoto yummies before jumping on a bullet train and going back home. Backpacker tourists can often be seen down at the nearby Kamo River bank munching away on some seasonal mochi too.

Mame-mochi is Demachi Futaba’s undisputed favorite. It is a favorite of Kyoto residents and well known throughout Japan. It has big, black beans in soft, chewy mochi. Demachi Futaba’s mame-mochi is nadai (名代), or ‘famous’.

We picked up some mame-mochi and a summery kuzu-manju.

Kuzu
Kuzu-manju is a lightly sweetened gelatin made from the starch of the kuzu root and is filled with azuki paste, this all wrapped in a fresh tree leaf. (We think it is sakura, but are not positive.) Kuzu is well-loved by Japanese and the most sought after kuzu comes from Yoshino in Nara Prefecture, just next door to Kyoto.

Kuzu is appealing to Japanese sensibilities as a cool and refreshing summer treat because chilled, it looks ice-like and contains a lot of water. Things that not only are cool, but look cool, water or ice-like do the trick for Japanese, it seems.

Demachi Futaba is located in the Demachiyanagi neighborhood up on the north-east side of the Imperial Palace, next to the Kamo River. It is near Keihan Demachiyanagi Station. If you are heading up to Kurama and Kibune or Ohara and Yase, in the north mountains, this is a great place to pick up some shinise snacks to take a long. We have also reviewed several restaurants in the neighborhood that serve fine dinners.

Throughout the year, Demachi Futaba has a wide assortment of seasonal mochi treats, be sure to sample some of them in addition to the ‘nadai‘ mame-mochi. (And come back to KyotoFoodie and tell us what you thought!)

Demachi Futaba Package

Your order is nicely packaged and the blue sticker reads; “Nadai (famous product) mame-mochi Demachi Futaba”. And on the upper right; “Please eat today”.

Mame-mochi

Kuzu-manju

Cooling, light, summery and fresh.

Demachi Futaba Showcase

The showcase contains a variety yummies that changes throughout the year.

Demachi Futaba Shop

Production is done just behind the counter, in plain view and it is a beehive of activity. Demachi Futaba is far and away the busiest mochi shop I have seen in Kyoto.

Demachi Futaba Shop

It is not uncommon for their to be 30 or 40 customers waiting in line, especially in the late afternoon. (This photo was taken first thing in the morning.)

Demachi Futaba

This detailed Japanese language map is printed on the wrapping paper.

English and Access

English menu: No and N/A, just point to what you want in the showcase
Service/Staff: so-so (typical Kyoto shinise service)
Hours: 8:30am-5:30pm, closed Tuesdays and 4th Wednesday of every month

Location and Access: Demachi Futaba is located on the west side of the Kamo River about a 3 minute walk from Keihan Demachiyanagi Station and Eizan Demachiyanagi Station. The store is facing Kawaramachi Street, just north of the Kawaramachi-Imadegawa intersection. Demachi Futaba is just south of the entrance to the shopping arcade.
Address
: Kyoto-shi, Kamigyo-ku, Kawaramachi-dori, Imadegawa-agaru, Seiryu-cho 236 (京都市上京区河原町通今出川上る青龍町236)
Telephone: 075-231-1658

Near sightseeing Spot: Demachi Futaba is near the Kamo River, Shimogamo Shrine, Kyoto Gosho Imperial Palace and Shokokuji Temple. The Masugata Shotengai shopping arcade, just around the corner is also quite interesting.

Map

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