{"title":"Japanese Wagashi","description":"\u003cp\u003eTraditional Japanese sweets like yokan, monaka and daifuku: mostly sweetened red bean paste, eaten in small portions with tea. The yokan is set with kanten, a seaweed jelly, not gelatine. Our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/guides\/wagashi-what-was-that-japanese-sweet\"\u003eguide to naming Japanese sweets\u003c\/a\u003e sorts them by shape.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"kinjo-seika-ogura-yokan","title":"Kinjo Seika Ogura Yokan — Red Bean Jelly Bar, 130g","description":"\u003cp\u003eA dense, sliceable block of sweetened bean paste with whole red beans set through it. The nearest Australian thing is quince paste, the same firmness, the same slice-it-thin sweetness, except this tastes of red bean rather than of fruit or caramel, and it is eaten on its own rather than next to cheese. It sets with agar, a seaweed jelly, so there is no gelatine in it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the pack: \u003cstrong\u003e小倉ようかん\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003cem\u003eogura yōkan\u003c\/em\u003e). \u003cem\u003eYokan\u003c\/em\u003e is the sweet itself; \u003cem\u003eogura\u003c\/em\u003e is the style that leaves the beans whole instead of straining them smooth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you're getting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSlice it. Don't bite it.\u003c\/strong\u003e It is 130 g of something very sweet and solid, and one bar is easily two or three sittings rather than one: cut a thin slice across it, fold the wrapper back over the rest, and come back to it later.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWhole beans, not just paste.\u003c\/strong\u003e The azuki (red beans) are left in rather than strained out, and they are Hokkaido-grown, the pack says so on the front. You can see them through the wrapper before you open it, and you get them in the slice.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAgar, not gelatine.\u003c\/strong\u003e It is set with kanten, a jelly made from seaweed, which is what makes yokan firm enough to slice cleanly instead of wobbling.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe honest bit: it is sweeter than it looks.\u003c\/strong\u003e This is a sugar-set sweet and does not pretend otherwise, the sugar can carry further than the bean does. If you like your desserts restrained, cut the slice thinner than you think you need.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHow it differs from the other two.\u003c\/strong\u003e Same maker, same 130 g bar, three ways. This is the dark one. The pale bar has the \u003cem\u003esame\u003c\/em\u003e beans on a white bean paste base, which changes the colour far more than it changes the taste. The third has chestnut pieces instead. That is the whole choice.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAllergens\u003c\/strong\u003e: none declared. Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTwo things worth knowing before it arrives. It is a plain matte brown block and it is supposed to look like that: yokan has none of the colour of a Western jelly sweet, and that flatness is not the sign of a poor one. And this is the everyday end of the category in Japan, the big unfussy bar off a supermarket shelf rather than something from a gift counter, which is exactly what makes it a sensible first yokan rather than an expensive guess.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you met something like this in Japan and never learned its name, our guide \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/guides\/wagashi-what-was-that-japanese-sweet\"\u003ewhat was that Japanese sweet?\u003c\/a\u003e names the whole family. Yokan is the one built to keep, which is why it travels, and why it is the one we can put on a shelf here.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kinjo Seika","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48290517483746,"sku":"SH-SNK-0032","price":3.03,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/1312\/5858\/files\/kinjo-seika-ogura-yokan-pack.webp?v=1788125135"},{"product_id":"kinjo-seika-kuri-yokan","title":"Kinjo Seika Kuri Yokan — Chestnut Jelly Bar, 130g","description":"\u003cp\u003eA sliceable block of sweetened bean paste with small pieces of chestnut set through it: you cut it into thin slices, the way you would quince paste. The chestnut is gentle: a background sweetness rather than a roasted-chestnut hit. So it suits you if you want the quietest of our three yokan bars, and not if you want something that tastes emphatically of chestnut.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the pack: \u003cstrong\u003e栗ようかん\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003cem\u003ekuri yōkan\u003c\/em\u003e). \u003cem\u003eKuri\u003c\/em\u003e is chestnut; \u003cem\u003eyokan\u003c\/em\u003e is the sweet itself, a block of sweetened bean paste set with agar, a jelly made from seaweed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you're getting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe honest bit first: the chestnut is subtle.\u003c\/strong\u003e The pieces are small, and you may well have to go looking for the flavour. It is a background note rather than the point of the bar. Buy it for a gentler, lighter yokan rather than for a chestnut dessert.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHow it differs from the other two.\u003c\/strong\u003e Same maker, same 130 g bar, three ways. The other two are both red-bean bars, one dark, one pale, and what separates \u003cem\u003ethem\u003c\/em\u003e is the paste they are built on rather than the beans. This is the odd one out: chestnut pieces instead of whole beans, and a quieter flavour. They are easy to mix up on a shelf, and people do.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAgar, not gelatine.\u003c\/strong\u003e Like the rest of the line it sets with kanten, a jelly made from seaweed, which is what lets you cut a clean slice instead of a wobble.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSlice it thin.\u003c\/strong\u003e It is a solid 130 g of sugar-set sweet. A bar might be one sitting or three, start with a thin slice and find out which you are.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAllergens\u003c\/strong\u003e: contains chestnut. Japan's chart has no chestnut category, so it sits in the pack's ingredient list rather than its allergen box. Australia's chart has no chestnut category either, so it cannot appear in an allergen box here. Check the ingredients, not the chart; ours is the fuller list.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTwo things worth knowing before it arrives. It is a plain, understated-looking block rather than a bright one, and that is not the sign of a poor one. And like its siblings this is the everyday end of the category in Japan: the big unfussy bar off a supermarket shelf rather than something from a gift counter, which is what makes it a sensible way to find out whether you like yokan at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you met something like this in Japan and never learned its name, our guide \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/guides\/wagashi-what-was-that-japanese-sweet\"\u003ewhat was that Japanese sweet?\u003c\/a\u003e names the whole family. Yokan is the one built to keep, which is why it travels, and why it is the one we can put on a shelf here.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kinjo Seika","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48290519482594,"sku":"SH-SNK-0033","price":3.18,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/1312\/5858\/files\/kinjo-seika-kuri-yokan-pack.webp?v=1788125218"},{"product_id":"kinjo-seika-neri-yokan","title":"Kinjo Seika Neri Yokan — Pale Red Bean Jelly Bar, 130g","description":"\u003cp\u003eA pale, translucent block of sweetened bean paste with whole red beans set through it. You cut it into thin slices, the way you would quince paste, except it is a clean bean sweetness rather than fruit or caramel. Buy it if you want the milder-looking of our two red-bean bars; the dark one is the more obvious place to start.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the pack: \u003cstrong\u003e煉ようかん\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003cem\u003eneri yokan\u003c\/em\u003e). \u003cstrong\u003eYokan\u003c\/strong\u003e is the sweet itself: a block of sweetened bean paste set firm enough to slice; \u003cem\u003eneri\u003c\/em\u003e is the name for this agar-set style.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you're getting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eYou can see what is in it.\u003c\/strong\u003e The azuki (red beans) are left whole and suspended through a pale base, so they show up as dark flecks all the way along the bar, the same Hokkaido beans that go into the dark bar, where the dark paste hides how many there are.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHow it differs from the other two.\u003c\/strong\u003e Same maker, same 130 g, same beans. This one is built on white bean paste and the dark one on red, which changes the colour completely and the taste far less than the look suggests. The third bar swaps the beans for chestnut pieces.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAgar, not gelatine.\u003c\/strong\u003e It sets with kanten, a jelly made from seaweed, which is what makes yokan firm enough to slice cleanly instead of wobbling.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSlice it thin.\u003c\/strong\u003e It is a solid 130 g of sugar-set sweet, so cut a slice about the thickness of a coin, fold the wrapper back over the rest and come back to it.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAllergens\u003c\/strong\u003e: none declared. Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTwo things worth knowing before it arrives. If you go looking up what \u003cem\u003eneri\u003c\/em\u003e yokan means, you will read that it is the smooth, strained kind and that \u003cem\u003eogura\u003c\/em\u003e is the one with whole beans. That is the usual convention across Japanese confectioners, and it is \u003cstrong\u003enot\u003c\/strong\u003e how this maker uses it: both of its bars carry the same beans, and the paste is what changes. And the pale, faintly cloudy look is simply what a white-paste bar looks like, not a sign that anything is wrong with it. Like both its siblings, this is the everyday end of the category in Japan: the big unfussy bar off a supermarket shelf rather than something from a gift counter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you met something like this in Japan and never learned its name, our guide \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/guides\/wagashi-what-was-that-japanese-sweet\"\u003ewhat was that Japanese sweet?\u003c\/a\u003e names the whole family. Yokan is the one built to keep, which is why it travels, and why it is the one we can put on a shelf here.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kinjo Seika","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48290613657826,"sku":"SH-SNK-0034","price":3.03,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/1312\/5858\/files\/kinjo-seika-neri-yokan-pack.webp?v=1788125350"}],"url":"https:\/\/shintop.com.au\/collections\/japanese-wagashi.oembed","provider":"Shintop Trading Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}