Just when you think that you have tried all the sushi in the world, you discover one in the very ‘un-sushi’ town of Kyoto that takes you aback! Sakurazushi, as made by Kichisen, is tai (sea bream) wrapped in salted sakura leaf. More than sublime!

Itadakimono: Recently Tanigawa-san at Kichisen has been bringing a lot of yummies, especially sushi for us to try. I just can’t believe my luck. He doesn’t like to see them appear on KyotoFoodie the next day, but with this one I knew that all you foodies around the world would have to hear about it!

Shiozakura is the salted sakura (cherry) leaf that is used for sakura mochi (sakura mochi ice cream) and here Tanigawa-san uses it to make Kyoto-style sushi. He said that the secret is to sprinkle the tai (sea bream) sashimi with salt, then put it in vinegar for a short time. Subtlety, complexity and surprise is the point. Atop the rice, where you would usually find wasabi in sushi, Tanigawa-san adds kinome (sprig of sansho). Two sakura leaves wrap the sushi which is garnished with a cherry petal fashioned from carrot.

Sakurazushi

Sakurazushi – Inside

Of course you don’t unwrap it when eating it, I just thought that I would show you what it looks like inside.

Sakurazushi – Inside

If you look carefully at the fish, in the middle of the sushi (lengthwise) you can see faint green, that is the kinome under the flesh.

Sakurazushi – Served

Verdant green maple leaf decorates the plate to suggest the season.

Kyoto Handmade Ice Cream Shop Chibeta: While Japanese love ice cream and Häagen-Dazs is big here, handmade ice cream shops, the likes or which there are several in my hometown, are a rarity. Chibeta, located in Nishijin, the old weaving district of Kyoto, makes great ice cream in very novel flavors. Inspiration for flavors are either traditional Japanese foods or ingredients or seasonal fruit. When I first walked into Chibeta several years ago, it was spring and I was astonished to see sakura mochi ice cream in the ice cream case. It was quite an amalgam of flavors!

While there is no mochi in this ice cream it is flavored with the salted sakura blossoms (shiozakura) and leaves that flavors sakura mochi. It has the pronounced perfumy fragrance identical to sakura mochi that is provided by the blossom and leaf. The taste of the ice cream is very rich and creamy (low fat diary products are not common, I drink 4.4% milk here) and it is salty. Quite unexpected!

Sakura Mochi Ice Cream

‘Sweet’ plus ‘salty’ is a delicious combination. In the US we have salt water taffy (but the taste is not particularly salty, as I recall from my childhood). Sweet and salty are not uncommon in traditional Japanese sweets. I am unaware of it in ice cream though.

I thought that the combination of creamy, sweet (not too sweet), sakura and salt was well worth writing home about. Salted sakura blossom and leaf ought to be easily obtained abroad, so this ice cream ought to be available throughout the world in the near future, I am hoping! (Aspiring sakura mochi ice cream makers abroad can click the ‘Source Delish!’ link above for help sourcing shiozakura.)

If you are in Kyoto and planning on visiting Chibeta, please keep in mind that sakura mochi ice cream is only available in the spring. There are plenty of other wonderful flavors to try though!

More about Sakura Mochi on KyotoFoodie
Sakura Mochi (History and Kanto-style)
Sakura Mochi (Kansai-style)

Sakura Mochi Ice Cream

Sakura Mochi Ice Cream – detail

Notice the pink fleck on the left center and the bits of leaf on the right.

Sakura Mochi

Again, sakura mochi looks like this.

Chibeta Sakura Mochi Ice Cream Package

Kyoto Handmade Ice Cream Shop Chibeta
Chibeta is located on in the Nishijin district of Kyoto on Senbon-dori, just south of Imadegawa-dori. From the intersection of Senbon and Imadegawa Streets, you just go three (short) blocks to the south and Chibeta is located on the east corner of Senbon and Sasayacho Streets intersection.

Chibeta Storefront

Map

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In Kyoto, this year’s sakura blossoms have begun to fade and fall, pavements are covered in pink petals and streams are covered with them to the extent that the water cannot be seen. The sakura season is not over for foodies though, we may still feast on sakura themed yummies for another few weeks. This is sakura mochi, as it is made down here in Kyoto, Osaka, Nara and Kobe.

Kansai Style Sakura Mochi
Kansai, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara and Kobe has it’s own distinct version of sakura mochi. Kanto (Tokyo) style has a pink crepe-like wrapping around the anko (azuki paste), however down here in Kansai, it is typically made with steamed mochi rice formed into a ball.

In terms of taste Kansai-style is quite different in texture, but less in taste. The sakura taste, the salt ‘hit’ and the perfumy fragrance of the salted sakura leaf are the same. It is softer and more chewy and ‘ricey’ than the Kanto variety.

I like both styles very much, usually I prefer Kyoto style to Tokyo, but in this case I think that Kanto style is actually more sophisticated and refined. I can’t think of anything else in Japanese culinary culture in which Kanto-style is more sophisticated. This Kansai-style sakura mochi is more ‘homey’ and country-style.

Both styles are readily available most anywhere in Japan and one sakura mochi is not much more than a bite, so you can easily try both! Both taste wonderful, I would say that if you are enjoying sakura mochi with maccha, Kanto style is a bit more suitable.

See this article for more about Kanto-style sakura mochi , a photo with the anko filling and the history of this wagashi confection.

Sakura Mochi

Some people don’t eat the leaf, but you absolutely must!

Sakura Mochi

What is Sakura Mochi?
Sakura mochi is a spring wagashi confection popular throughout Japan. There are various renditions and generally there is a mochi or mochi rice ball filled with anko that is wrapped in a salted sakura cherry leaf. Sakura mochi is said to be invented in 1717 in Edo (present day Tokyo) by a guard named Yamamoto Shinroku at Chomei-ji Temple utilizing sakura leaves from trees planted by Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune along the nearby scenic Sumida River. The enterprising temple gaurd then began to sell his tasty invention.

In Kanto (Tokyo) sakura mochi is usually made with a pink ‘crepe’ filled with anko and wrapped with a sakura leaf. In Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe) usually steamed mochi rice is shaped into a ball filled with anko and wrapped with a leaf.

While I purchased this sakura mochi at a fine wagashi store here in Kyoto, it is definitely of the Kanto ‘crepe’ variety.

Kyoto Sakura Blossoms

Sakura Mochi Package

Sakura Mochi

Sakura Mochi

Sakura Mochi

How did it taste?
Before it gets to your mouth, sakura mochi is experienced by the nose. The fragrance of sakura is very intense. It is pervading and perfumy to the extent that you might think that it is artificial and fake, but it is natural.

If you have had stuffed grape leaves, sinking your teeth into sakura mochi will immediately remind you of that wonderful dish.

The mochi is soft and inside is anko (fine ground azuki bean paste). The sweetness pleasantly contrasts with the saltiness of the preserved leaf.

As you chew, there is a wonderful and intermittent squeakiness on your teeth from the leaf.

Sakura Mochi – Cross Section

Itadakimono: The sakura cherry season is about upon us again. The ‘early’ variety of sakura are just starting to bloom in Kyoto. So, that means sakura everything, including food for about the next month or so. I was given this box of sakura and yomogi gyuhi mochi by a dinner guest the other day. Here it is.

Gyuhi Mochi with Azuki Beans
This gyuhi mochi is from Sentaro. Yomori (mugwort) is a herb that is very commonly added to mochi for flavor and medicinal effects. In this sakura gyuhi mochi, the salted sakura blossoms were clearly visible, however did not have a very pronounced taste. The taste of sakura, especially the leaves is surprisingly strong.

Interestingly, this gyuhi mochi also included azuki beans. The taste was nice, but not exceptional.

Sakura Yomogi Gyuhi Mochi from Sentaro – Package

Sakura Yomogi Gyuhi Mochi – Opened

Sakura Yomogi Gyuhi Mochi – Served

Sakura Yomogi Gyuhi Mochi – detail

Notice the sakura petals in the mochi.

Sakura Gyuhi Mochi – detail

Yomogi Gyuhi Mochi – detail

＊We have reviewed wagashi from Sentaro so many times now on KyotoFoodie that I feel compelled to tell you that they aren’t a sponsor or anything like that, in fact we have never even spoken to anyone at their store.

Sake flavored with cherry blossoms is a wonderful spring treat in Japan. The sakura bloom only last a few days, so this fleeting pleasure of life must be sought out and enjoyed!

Many of the trees in Kyoto look like they have been covered in a thick, fluffy pink snow. These are of course, the Japanese sakura cherry trees covered in delicate blossoms.

Hanami (花見) means ‘flower viewing’. This is a favorite custom with the Japanese. Many people gather along riversides, in parks and on the grounds of temples and shrines to picnic, barbecue, drink and be merry under the sakura blossoms.

About the Sake:
Peko has a new best friend; Furosen Kidarujikomi Muroka Namagenshu Yamahai Jyunmai Daiginjo (不老泉木樽仕込無濾過生原酒山廃純米大吟醸), a very long name for a very tasty and rare breed of sake. Very, very good stuff! One of the best sakes I have ever had. This sake is produced in Shiga Prefecture, just over the mountain from Kyoto by Uehara Shuzo (上原酒造).

Sakura and Sake

Sakura and Sake

Sakura and Sake

Sakura and Sake

The sakura zensen, or ‘Cherry Blossom Front’ is moving up Japan from south to north and is now passing through the center of the country where Kyoto is located. The delicate sakura blossoms don’t last long though, just a few days. It has already begun ‘raining’ cherry petals here and tomorrow ought to be a downpour.

The sakura is an important symbol for the samurai, and why so is a deep subject. Amid contemplating the sakura blooming, fading and disappearing on a momentary gust of wind, a foodie may ask, “ah, but what to eat?”

Sakura!

Sakura Noodles
Paku came home with sakura udon and sakura soba last night and we made the udon, which was fresh and delicate.

While it is still rather chilly in Kyoto, especially at dinner time we had hiyashi (冷やし), chilled udon. The sakura flavor of the noodles is very subtle and delicate so a light and simple tsuyu (dashi-shoyu based dipping sauce) is all that is needed.

We enjoyed this as ‘tsukemen‘, literally ‘dip’ ‘noodle’. A bit of grated ginger is added to the tsuyu and the noodles are dipped in it and slurped up. Very simple and delicious.

Fresh Sakura Udon and Sakura Soba

Paku got these at Meiji-ya on Sanjo Street. It will only be on the shelves for a very short time.

Fresh Sakura Udon

Fresh Sakura Udon — detail

Sakura Udon — Boiling

Notice the dark bits in the noodle. That is the sakura leaf. The leaf probably has more ‘sakura‘ flavor than the flower.

Sakura Hiyashi Udon (Tsukemen) Simply Served
Take a bit of grated ginger (left) and place it in the tsuyu (right), then dip the noodles and slurp! Tsuke = dip and men = noodles.

Just before catching a bullet back to Kyoto, I ducked into the omiyage/gourmet food court at Shinagawa Shinkansen Station (in Tokyo) to get some omiyage for Paku and some ‘bento’ for my two and a half hour train ride back to ‘old’ Japan.

At a kind of gourmet riceball shop, I chose some Sakura Onigiri, Nanohana Tempura Onigiri. (Onigiri are rice balls.) Sakura is the Japanese cherry and nanohana is spring greens and blossoms of the rape plant. Once on the train and underway, I was extremely pleased with my choice!

Train Food: Seasonal ‘Spring’ Onigiri – Salted Cherry Blossom and Rape Blossom Tempura

Deepfried (tempura) Rape Blossom Onigiri (left), Salted Cherry Blossom (Sakura) Onigiri (center), Bottled Green ‘Strong’ Tea (right)

Train Food: Seasonal ‘Spring’ Onigiri – detail

‘Season’ in Japanese Culture
In Japanese cuisine, the season is very, very important. Regional variations are cherished by residents and sought out when traveling. Even simple food in Japan such as that found in a train station or convenience store is expected to be fresh and tasty, seasonal and regional.

Spring: Sakura and Nanohana

Salted Cherry Blossoms (Sakura-no-Shiozuke 桜の塩漬け) in Japanese Cuisine
Salted sakura blossoms (Sakura-no-Shiozuke) and leaves are used in numerous ways in Japanese cuisine the most commonplace being sakura-mochi. Sakura-mochi has various forms but it inevitably has mochi, wrapped in a salted sakura leaf with a Sakura-no-Shiozuke blossom on top. The blossom and leaf exude a potent sakura fragrance. The salt somehow accentuates and amplifies the sakura fragrance.

This flavor and fragrance is much loved by Japanese and appears in many novel forms in contemporary Japanese cuisine. A favorite of mine (Peko) is this Sakura-no-Shiozuke flavor in ice cream. The contract of creamy and salty, all enveloped in the potent sakura fragrance is simply fantastic!

Shio-zakura (桜の塩漬け) Onigiri
Here a salted sakura blossom garnishes the onigiri, but stirred into the rice, as it was still hot is finely chopped salted sakura blossom and leaf. The rice is a light pink with bits of green. I had never had this before and it was quite a delight.

Everyone out there in foodie can surely make this one as salted sakura blossoms are available abroad.

Nanohana (菜の花) Onigiri
Nanohana (rape blossoms) have been discussed in recent posts on KyotoFoodie. Nanohana is much loved late-winter and early spring delicacy. Here the blossoms have been deepfried, sandwiched between two layers of rice and wrapped in nori.

These fresh, slightly bitter greens, lightly deepfried in onigiri was another first for me and was most excellent, a perfect contrast to the light and perfumy sakura!

What do you think?
Have you made onigiri?
Are you interested in onigiri recipies?