Product Code Database
-style sakuramochi]]桜餅]] is a Wagashi consisting of sweet, pink-colored rice cake ( mochi) with red bean paste ( anko) filling, wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom ( sakura) leaf, which may or may not be eaten depending on individual preference. Traditionally, the sweet is eaten during the spring season, especially at the annual Hinamatsuri celebration on March 3 and flower viewing ( hanami) parties.
Originally meant for those visiting their family graves in the Chōmei-ji cemetery, the sweet was wrapped in cherry blossom leaves Yamamoto collected while cleaning up the temple grounds. The sweet grew popular among the crowds of hanami-goers, many of whom were attracted by the cherry blossom trees planted along the Sumida River by the order of the shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune.
Yamamoto-ya remains in business to this day and is often simply referred to as Chōmeiji. Available all year, its sakuramochi is made from wheat flour, Adzuki bean from Hokkaido, and Prunus speciosa leaves from Matsuzaki, Shizuoka, using a recipe largely unchanged since the Edo period.
|
|
