I tried Yoshino's sweet "Yokan Yamazakura", a famous place for cherry blossoms in Nara. The jelly of Yoshino's special product "Yoshino Kuzu" is spread under the cherry blossoms, and the bean paste is poured underneath. You can easily enjoy the feeling of cherry blossom viewing at home.


In Yoshino, various shops sell yokan made from cherry blossoms as souvenirs, and you can also buy them online from all over the country. This time, I bought "Yamazakura Yokan" from Kondo Shoten at the foot of Mt. Yoshino. You can order a "trial" set for those who try it for the first time by mail order for 2,150 yen (tax included) including shipping fee for 2 types of yokan.


Kondo Shoten's wild cherry blossom yokan has "Azuki", "Matcha", "Sakura", etc. according to the type of bean paste, all handmade. This time, I chose Azuki, which is stable and popular with customers visiting Yoshino, and Sakura, which has a beautiful scarlet bean paste with cherry leaves.

Wild cherry blossoms Sakura

First of all, I will try Sakura bean paste. On the first layer, the cherry blossoms are beautifully bloomed, hardened in a transparent kanten, and arranged at regular intervals. The cherry blossoms are also a guide when inserting a knife, and it will look good if you put the flowers in each cut.



The second layer is the transparent jelly of Yoshino Kuzu, and the third layer is the white bean-based cherry blossom sauce with plenty of salted cherry leaves.


If you taste it in order from the top, first of all, Kanten has a slight scent of cherry blossoms, but if you bite into the flowers themselves, you can enjoy a clearer and more fragrant scent. The jelly of Yoshino kudzu in the middle layer has a smooth texture, the sakura bean paste in the lower layer is clearly sweet, and the scent of cherry leaves, which is similar to flowers, is behind.



Perhaps because it contains kudzu jelly, even if you flatten a large cut, it gives a surprisingly refreshing impression. You should definitely try it with hot Japanese tea.

Wild cherry tree Azuki

Next, I will try the azuki bean paste. This is also hardened with the cherry blossoms open, with Yoshino kudzu jelly and azuki bean paste underneath.


Unlike the yokan of sakura bean paste, the scent is produced only by flowers without using leaves, so the flavor of cherry blossoms is a little light, and the sweetness of azuki bean paste and the taste of beans stand out.


In terms of sweets associated with cherry blossoms, it is a little modest, but it may be well-balanced as a Japanese sweet. The black bean paste and the light scarlet color of the cherry blossoms are beautiful objects, and they look stylish when exposed to light.


Here, I will grab the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd layers in one go. You can enjoy the smell of spring, the cool taste of kudzu, and the sweetness of the bean paste at the same time. This is also a dish that you want to enjoy hot Japanese tea with.