Nama Yatsuhashi (生八ツ橋, soft Kyoto rice confection)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Mushiki (Japanese steamer), bamboo steamer, or metal steamer insert
• •Clean kitchen towel for wrapping the steamer lid
• •Shamoji (wooden rice paddle) or silicone spatula
• •Bench scraper
• •Small rolling pin and ruler
• •Fine sieve for dusting

Instructions

1. 1

   Portion the anko

   Divide the anko into twelve 15g mounds and chill them on a tray. If making fruit-filled pieces, use about 8g anko with one small dry strawberry or half strawberry inside each piece. Chill the filling because warm rice dough is soft; a firm mound folds neatly and doesn't smear across the pale skin.

2. 2

   Make the dusting

   Stir the kinako, katakuriko, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Sift a light layer on the work surface and keep the rest nearby. The potato starch stops sticking, while kinako keeps the dusting from tasting flat and raw. Use it lightly; too much powder dries the edges and makes the fold look tired.

3. 3

   Hydrate the flours

   Put the shiratamako in a heatproof bowl and crush the coarse grains with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Whisk in the jōshinko, sugar, dough cinnamon, and salt. For matcha yatsuhashi, use matcha in place of the dough cinnamon. Add the water in three additions, rubbing out lumps until the batter is smooth and pourable, like heavy cream.

   Shiratamako needs water before it needs heat. Dry grains turn into hard white flecks in the finished sheet, and no folding trick will hide them.
4. 4

   Steam the dough

   Set the bowl in a mushiki or steamer over a steady simmer, and wrap the lid in a clean kitchen towel so water does not drip onto the dough. Steam for 15 to 18 minutes, stirring and folding once after about 8 minutes with a wet spatula. The dough is ready when it is sticky, elastic, slightly translucent, and no longer smells of raw rice flour.

   Moist heat gelatinizes the rice starch evenly. Drips from the lid make wet pockets, so the towel is not fussiness. It is protection.
5. 5

   Knead while warm

   Turn the hot dough onto the dusted surface and dust the top lightly. Use a bench scraper or spatula to fold it for a minute, then knead briefly with dusted hands until smooth enough to roll. Work while it is warm. Cooled rice dough stiffens, and a cold fold cracks at the corners.

6. 6

   Roll and cut

   Divide the dough in half and keep one half covered. Roll each half into a rectangle about 16 by 24cm and 2 to 3mm thick, dusting underneath only as needed. Cut each sheet into six 8cm squares and trim ragged edges.

   Even thickness is the standard. Thick corners taste heavy, and thin corners tear before they meet.
7. 7

   Fill and fold

   Brush excess dust from each square. Set one mound of anko in the center, fold one corner to the opposite corner, and press gently around the filling to make a triangle. Do not crimp hard. The warm sheet clings as it cools, and heavy pressure pushes the filling to the edge.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Rest the pieces under cover for 15 minutes at cool room temperature so the surface relaxes. Arrange three or five on a plate rather than piling them. Serve with sencha or usucha. Classic pieces keep airtight at cool room temperature for 24 hours; fruit-filled pieces should be refrigerated and eaten the same day, because wet fruit changes the dough.

Chef Tips

• •Use koshian for the smooth shop look and tsubuan for a little bean texture. Both are right. What matters is that the paste is not loose; wet anko leaks and stains the fold.
• •Nikki, Japanese cassia, is warmer and sharper than many supermarket cinnamons. Good ground cinnamon is a sensible stand-in, but keep the scent clean. This sweet has very few places to hide.
• •For matcha yatsuhashi, replace the cinnamon in the dough with sifted matcha and keep the dusting gentle. Don't stack cinnamon and matcha together. Kyoto shop flavors are clean, one scent at a time.
• •Use fruit only when it is at its shun and small enough to fold without forcing the dough. Pat it dry. If the fruit leaks, it belongs beside the sweet, not inside it.

Advance Preparation

• •The anko can be portioned and chilled up to two days ahead. Keep it covered so the surface does not dry.
• •The kinako, katakuriko, and cinnamon dusting can be mixed a week ahead and kept airtight.
• •Finished classic nama yatsuhashi is best within 12 hours and still good for 24 hours at cool room temperature. Refrigeration firms the rice dough, so use the refrigerator only for fruit-filled pieces and eat those the same day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 35g)