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.

May 5th is Boy’s Day, or Tango-no-Sekku in Japan. Colorful koi (carp) fabric streamers, some gigantic, are flown from house roofs and condominium verandas by families with young boys. I found these koinobori chofu at a wagashi shop in Nara the other day, I hadn’t seen anything like this before.

Usually fish shaped wagashi are ayugashi, or wakaayu, which I love and reviewed extensively in this article last summer. This koinobori chofu (more about chofu) is a clever riff on ayugashi, but is made for Boy’s Day, or officially known as Children’s Day now. The koinobori, rather than ayu sweetfish, is the inspiration for the shape. The filling is quite novel too, the gyuhi mochi filling is flavored with orange jam!

The package is great, it really looks like koinobori. The koinobori (see photos below) is basically a windsock, fish shaped, painted or printed to resemble a brightly color koi.

Koinobori Chofu

Why Koi (Carp) Shaped Streamers?
It is said that the koi, if butchered alive, or even cooked alive, does not panic and flip and flail about like the image of a fish out of water, or in hot sand, in Western culture. The koi stoically accepts the end with dignity and without panic. A koi on the cutting board or the hearth, it is still. Hey, when your number is up, your life is over — you are dead. Flailing around will not change things. So, it is much better to die a dignified death, in control rather than flipping out. This is related to the samurai ethic regarding bravery, honor and death. This behavior is what is considered ‘manly’ in Japan. (This is much more evolved than machismo, in my opinion.) Therefore, the koi is one of the important symbols for Boy’s Day.

Koinobori Chofu – detail

Koinobori Chofu

Koinobori Chofu

Koinobori Chofu – detail

Orange jam filling on the left and anko (azuki paste) on the right.

How did it taste?
This isn’t exactly gourmet wagashi but the yakikawa waffle was very tasty and quite mochi mochi (chewy). The orange jam flavored gyuhi filling was very good, the azuki filling in the other was average, nothing special.

Below are two images from last year’s Suetomi’s Boy’s Day/Koinobori article.

Koinobori

photo credit: teseb

Koinobori – detail

High quality koi-no-bori are still hand painted and quite expensive.
photo credit: qa™design