Ubatama

Photo and shape could be better. It’s an experiment + we have totally awful dark days of typhon. Not enough light for photos. I’ll do some again, nicer.

It’s a wagashi (Japanese sweet), great for Summer. it looks like a truffle caught in ice. They are very refreshing.

Ubatama is the name of the peyote cactus. So maybe the shape comes from that… or the cactus was named after the sweet. Tama is ball. Uba may mean “bird wing”, like black crow wing. But there are different writings.

It’s koshian (smooth azuki bean paste) flavored with kurozato (black sugar), in a agar agar jelly.

I should have colored the jelly. I’ll know next time.
They were delicious. The black sugar gives them a pleasant old-fashioned flavor.