Sakura-mochi

桜餅と抹茶

Sakura-mochi to matcha (cherry blossom rice cake with matcha tea)

With yesterday's wind and today's rain, the cherry blossoms are pretty much gone. We can console ourselves with the many sakura-themed sweets available this season.

The most popular of all is sakura-mochi, which is pink-coloured rice cake with an anko (sweet red bean paste) filling; the whole thing is wrapped in a preserved cherry leaf. The leaf is salty, so some people remove it before eating. Better to leave it on- the contrast of the sweet anko and salty cherry leaf is nice.

There are two kinds of sakura-mochi- Kansai (Osaka and Western Japan) style, with the anko covered in glutinous rice, and Kanto (Tokyo and Eastern Japan) style, with the glutinous rice formed into a thin crepe and rolled around the anko. The one shown above is a variation on the latter, with a preserved cherry blossom on top.

Sakura-mochi, like most Japanese sweets, is best served with green tea, especially matcha. Matcha is powdered green tea, whisked into a bitter and frothy drink. Usually just enough for a few sips is served, in a large and beautiful bowl.

Recipes:

Kansai style sakura-mochi

Kanto style sakura-mochi

Matcha