Firm Azuki Jelly (練り羊羹, Neri Yōkan)

Neri yōkan is a confection that frightens people by looking too perfect. A dark block, smooth as lacquer, cut into clean slices and served in silence beside tea, can seem like work for a specialist. It isn't. The whole thing rests on one plain fact: kanten, the firm-setting agar we use in wagashi, must be fully dissolved before the bean paste goes in.

That is the detail that decides it. If the kanten is only half dissolved, the yōkan sets weakly or grainy, no matter how carefully you stir later. Boil it in water until the liquid loses its cloudiness, then add sugar, then the koshi-an, smooth strained azuki paste. The sugar strengthens the set and gives the block its keeping power. The bean paste gives it depth. Nothing hidden.

This is special-occasion food, but not fussy food. We make it ahead because it asks for time more than cleverness, and because a clean slice of yōkan is better after the block has rested and settled into itself. Serve it in thin batons, never heavy slabs, with green tea. Leave it room on the plate. Sweetness needs quiet around it.