Sakuramochi

What is Sakuramochi?

I bought Sakuramochi.
It is a Japanese sweet that is often seen in spring, and there is custom to eat it at the day of Hinamatsuri.
There are two types of sakuramochi, Kanto style (Chomeiji：長命寺) and Kansai style (Domyoji：道明寺), and this time I bought Domyoji.

Chomeiji is the name of a temple in Tokyo. It is derived from the fact that the person who was the gatekeeper of the temple first made it.
On the other hand, Domyoji is a temple in Osaka, and the type of sakuramochi made there has got to be called Domyoji later.

Sakuramochi (Domyoji) is shaped like a steamed bun and has a slightly sticky texture on the outside.
The combination of a slightly sticky and chewy texture, cherry blossom flavor, and red bean paste is delicious.
The bean paste inside is rather sweet, so it goes well with eating while drinking green tea.
It is wrapped in salted leaves of cherry blossom, and the flavor of the cherry blossoms makes you feel spring.

How to be made

Put Domyoji powder in boiling water and steam it.
Color it pink with food coloring.
Domyoji powder is made by steaming and drying glutinous rice.

1. Wrap the sweet red bean paste in the steamed dough.
   Red bean paste is made by boiling red beans, adding sugar, and kneading them.

2. Finally, wrap it in salted leaves of cherry blossom.

Do you eat salted cherry leaves?

Do you eat salted cherry leaves? If you ask me, I would say yes you can eat it.
Some people eat it without the salted leaves of cherry blossom, while others eat it as it is.
In my case, I eat the leave when it is soft, but don’t eat hard one.
This time, the leave of sakuramochi were very soft and sticked, so it was difficult to peel it off and I ate it as it was. It had cherry blossom flavor.

Where to buy

It is often sold at supermarkets, convenience stores and Japanese sweets stores before the Doll’s Festival day and in the spring.

Sakuramochi is a Japanese sweet that makes you feel spring.

【Cat’s Notes】

be derived from	～に由来する（～にゆらいする）
red bean paste	餡子（あんこ）
go well with	～とよく合う（～とよく合う）
food coloring	食紅（しょくべに）
dough	生地（きじ）