Chef Takumi
Agar Jelly with Anko and Fruit (あんみつ, Anmitsu)
Anmitsu looks like a tray of small tasks, but the work is calm: dissolve the kanten fully, chill the pieces clean, then let fruit, anko, and kuromitsu do the speaking.
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Kuzu Starch Noodles (葛切り, Kuzukiri)
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Kuzukiri is a summer sweet built from almost nothing: hon-kuzu, water, ice, and dark kuromitsu. Cook the starch until it turns clear, then eat it before the cold loses its snap.
Desserts
Japanese
Special Occasion
Date Night
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
20 min cook•1 hr total
Yield2 servings
Kuzukiri looks like a trick because it is nearly transparent. That is its little joke. The recipe is only hon-kuzu, pure kudzu-root starch, and water, set into thin sheets, cut into ribbons, and served cold with kuromitsu, black sugar syrup. Nothing is hidden. If the kuzu is good, the pleasure is the clean chill, the faint spring under the teeth, and the dark sweetness you dip it into at the table.
The one detail that decides it is clarity. Kuzu starts milky, then turns glass-clear when the starch has fully cooked. Pull it early and the center stays chalky. Cook it too thick and it chews like a classroom eraser, useful only if you were hungry during mathematics. Keep the layer thin, heat it until no white streak remains, then chill it fast so the sheet tightens and lifts cleanly.
This is high-summer wagashi, the kind of sweet that cools rather than fills you. In Kyoto we leave the noodles pale and spare, usually with no garnish, because the point is the contrast: clear, cold kuzu against kuromitsu deep with kokutō. Make the syrup first and chill it. The noodles wait for no one, and for once the dessert is the strict one at the table.
Kuzukiri is closely associated with Kyoto wagashi and with hon-kuzu from Yoshino in neighboring Nara, a starch made by repeatedly washing crushed kudzu root in cold water until only the fine white starch remains. By the Edo period, kuzu starch was used in Kyoto sweets as well as in kuzu-yu, a hot restorative drink. Kagizen Yoshifusa, a Gion sweet shop founded in the Kyōhō era (1716-1736), is especially known for serving kuzukiri with kuromitsu.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
kokutō (Okinawan black sugar)
Quantity
100g
chopped or grated
water
Quantity
80ml
for the kuromitsu
sea salt
Quantity
1 pinch
hon-kuzu (pure kudzu-root starch)
Quantity
50g
cold water
Quantity
200ml
for the kuzu slurry
ice cubes
Quantity
plenty
for chilling and serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| kokutō (Okinawan black sugar)chopped or grated | 100g |
| waterfor the kuromitsu | 80ml |
| sea salt | 1 pinch |
| hon-kuzu (pure kudzu-root starch) | 50g |
| cold waterfor the kuzu slurry | 200ml |
| ice cubesfor chilling and serving | plenty |
Equipment Needed
- •Nagashikan (rectangular metal mold), or a shallow stainless steel tray
- •Wide pot or roasting pan for the hot-water bath
- •Fine-mesh strainer
- •Large bowl for ice water
- •Bamboo zaru or chilled glass bowls for serving
Instructions
- 1
Make kuromitsu
Put the kokutō, 80ml water, and salt in a small pan. Warm gently, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until glossy and lightly syrupy. Strain if it looks grainy, then chill completely. The syrup must be cold because warm kuromitsu softens the noodles and dulls the clean finish.
Don't reduce it into a heavy syrup. Kuzukiri is a cool, spare sweet, and thick syrup hides the clarity you worked for. - 2
Prepare the baths
Fill a wide pot with 4cm of water and bring it to a lively simmer. Set a large bowl of ice water beside it. Choose a shallow stainless steel tray or nagashikan that fits inside the pot. Once the kuzu starts setting, it moves quickly, so the hot bath and cold bath need to be ready before the starch meets heat.
- 3
Dissolve the kuzu
Crush any hard lumps of hon-kuzu with the back of a spoon. Whisk it with 200ml cold water until milk-white and smooth, then pass it through a fine strainer. Cold water lets the starch disperse evenly. Warm water would seize it into lumps before you can make a clean sheet.
Stir the slurry before every sheet. Kuzu settles fast, and the last tray will be too thick if you trust the bowl to behave itself. - 4
Set each sheet
Stir the slurry well and pour about 45ml into the shallow tray, just enough to make a thin layer about 2mm deep. Float the tray on the simmering water and keep it level. In 30 to 60 seconds, the edges will turn clear and the center will look cloudy. When the sheet holds together, use tongs to lower the tray under the hot water for another 30 to 60 seconds, until no white streak remains. That final dip cooks the top as well as the bottom.
This is the detail that decides kuzukiri. Pull it while it is still milky and the center tastes chalky. Wait until it is glass-clear. - 5
Chill and release
Lift the tray from the hot water and set it straight into the ice bath. The sheet will tighten and loosen from the metal. Slip wet fingers under one edge and peel it away gently, then leave it in clean ice water while you cook the remaining sheets. Fast chilling gives the noodles their spring and keeps the surface bright.
- 6
Cut the noodles
Lay each chilled sheet on a wet board or plate and cut it into ribbons about 1cm wide. Return the ribbons to ice water as you work. The wet surface keeps them from sticking, and the narrow cut gives the kuromitsu enough surface to cling without making the bite heavy.
- 7
Serve at once
Drain the kuzukiri well and arrange the ribbons over fresh ice in chilled bowls, leaving space rather than piling them high. Pour the cold kuromitsu into small dipping cups. Eat by lifting a few noodles and dipping them into the syrup. Serve within 20 minutes. Refrigeration makes kuzu turn firm and cloudy, and this sweet is best while it still tastes of cold water and restraint.
Chef Tips
- •Look for hon-kuzu, pure kudzu-root starch, ideally labeled as 100 percent kuzu. Many cheaper powders are blended with sweet potato or potato starch. They will thicken, yes, but the set is duller and the bite is wrong. For this dish, the starch is the dish.
- •A bottled kuromitsu from a good Japanese maker is a sensible stand-in when kokutō is hard to find. Plain pancake syrup is not. It brings the wrong sweetness and tells a different story.
- •Keep the sheets thin. Thick kuzukiri turns rubbery before it turns elegant, and no amount of syrup will apologize for it.
- •Serve restrained portions over ice with room in the bowl. A small tangle of clear noodles and a dark dipping cup looks more generous than a crowded heap. Leave it room.
Advance Preparation
- •The kuromitsu can be made up to one week ahead and kept refrigerated in a clean jar.
- •Chill the serving bowls, dipping cups, and chopsticks before serving. The dish depends on cold more than decoration.
- •Do not make the noodles ahead. Cook, chill, cut, and serve them within about 20 minutes, before the kuzu firms and clouds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 200g)
Calories
265 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
90 mg
Total Carbohydrates
66 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
44 g
Protein
1 g
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