Zu zu zu lemon tartelette : yuzu, kuzu, anzu

A delicious fresh dessert for all the lovers of sour sweetness.

Why zu zu zu ?

Zu or su, is sourness. Many acidic ingredients have this sound in Japanese. Today :
Anzu : Apricot.
Yuzu : yuzu citrus.
Kuzu : kudzu is a root resembling arrow-root and similarly used as a jelly starch.

About 1 volume of dry apricot for two of oat meal in the blender, then just a little water. Put in the mold, dried in the oven.

Yuzu. I’ve really discovered something here : yuzu and apricot are one of those rare matches made in even. Paired they become something else, a richer fruit flavor.

Kudzu as it is sold. It is 本葛 Honkuzu, pure kuzu. There exist others (explanation here).

For more : kudzu recipes.

I mixed the kuzu powder with the juice and zest of a yuzu, a little yellow cane sugar, enough water (as suggested on the package of kuzu) and cooked while stirring, till it became transparent.

Filled the crust. Let cool a few hours. Garnished with whipped coconut cream, toasted sesame seeds and yellow cane sugar.

Kuzumochi (kuzu, kuzukiri, kuzuko,kuzuyu…)

Kuzumochi avec de la poudre de caroube.
(kuzumochi with carob powder).

Kuzumochi is very close to warabimochi (click here) made with bracken. The “warabi” ingredient is cheap, so it is more commonly sold. Kuzu is a great product, but it is costly, even in Japan where it is produced.

葛餅 Kuzumochi :

40 g of kuzuko, 150 ml of water, 5 g of sugar

Recette de base :
Mélanger les ingrédients dans une casserole. Porter a ébullition en remuant avec une cuiller en bois. Quand tout est devenu translucide, rincer un recipient et y transférer le mélange.
Quand c’est un peu refroidit, couper des cubes ou tailler des billes a la cuiller. Servir avec de la kinako (farine de soja grillé) et du sucre.

Standard recipe : mix the ingredient in a sauce pan. Bring to boil while stirring with a wooden spoon. When it all becomes slightly transparent, rinse a container with cold water and poor the paste in it.
When it’s a little cooled, you can cut bits with a spoon like here and throw them in a cup of very cold water. Drain and serve with a cup of kinako+sugar to dip the kuzumochi in it. (kinako is a powder of roasted soy beans)

You can shape your kuzumochi in round tea cups and put a ball of anko (bean jam) in the middle. This is also called mizumanju.

Variations are made with the same recipe :

葛切り Kuzukiri :
(kuzu noodles)
40 g of kuzuko, 120 ml of water
The paste is spread on a flat layer, and then cut in long noddles, Or it is extruded with a noddle cutting gadget and dropped into cold water. These noodles can be served with either kuromitsu (a syrup made from kurazato black sugar), or a vinegared soy sauce.

葛湯 Kuzuyu :
(kuzu hot water)
40 g of kuzuko, 200 ml of water, 10 g of sugar
It is served hot and liquid. Like here :
ginger kuzuyu
Rem : If you let a leftover of kuzuyu cool a few hours, it will thicken into kuzumochi.

(kuzuko, here kuzu + sweet potato)

Shopping :
Kudzu 葛 Kuzu : a Japanese plant, close to arrow-root. Starch is made from its root.

本葛 Honkuzu (yamakuzu, etc) : pure kuzu starch powder
葛粉 Kuzuko : starch powder that may be 100% kuzu or a mix of kuzu and other starches (potato, sweet potato, corn).

For the Japanese sweet recipes and to thicken your sauces, you can use any type (kuzuko, honkuzu…). The color and transparency will vary slightly.
The pure ones being more expensive, many cook with the “mixed” kuzuko. Some people use kuzu for its medicinal property and they want the pure product.

You can buy them in most supermarkets in Japan. Abroad, Asian grocers and some health ingredient stores (macrobiotic, etc) may sell them.

Pour les Français, il existe cette boutique en ligne. Je ne les connais pas. Ils ont beaucoup d’ingrédients de base japonais.

I had no kinako in stock, so I’ve eaten my snack with a mix of carob, powder sugar and cinnamon. Carob is not Japanese at all, but I liked it.

For a sick cat (via GiO)

LY a tasty remedy for sore throat.

Ginger kuzu-yu…

For a sick cat

Ginger kuzu-yu.

You were getting canned posts because I stopped food. Yep, eating is a nasty habit. All you need is a little strength of will… I have none.
The other way is to be 99% dead and sick in bed, which is what I have done mostly for the last 3 days. Now I am back to life, but not totally repaired yet. I’m left with a voice of cat, as they say here, or a cat in the throat as we say in my country.

So take fresh ginger and kuzu.

Starch of kuzu, kudzu . I used to think it was arrow-root. It has the color of arrow-root, the taste of arrow-root, but indeed it’s Canada Dry. Click to read more about that plant.

Dilute in cold water. Heat slowly and stir till it becomes transparent. You can add honey and grated ginger, for a sore throat, but other flavorings are possible.

Serve hot.

(photo from a webshop, click to get there)

It’s a popular Winter sweet.
Japanese cake stores sell thoses cute packages of instant kuzu-yu (just add hot water). There are also blocks with cute shapes.

Wagashi Saga : Photo-menu of all Japanese sweet posts.

It will wonderfully sooth the aching throat thanks to the extraordinary gel texture.

Ate it till the last drop…

Wagashi saga. Full edition.

mikan daifuku

The Japanese are sweet lovers. Now, all sorts of Western and Asian sweets can be found in big cities, and there are many talented bakers.

Wagashi means “Japanese sweets”, and it refers to the snack, usually sweet, served with tea. Eating desserts is not the custom. You eat lunch at 11~12 , then at 3 pm, you have a sweet with tea.

murasaki hanamame

The bulk of wagashi are made on a base of 2 ingredients : rice and azuki beans. And the artisans carve hundreds of refined designs -inspired by nature and seasonal events. So you may have the impression that they all taste the same and are only decorative. Actually, even in traditional shops, there exist many other flavors, sesame, roast soy beans, sweet potato, nuts, yuzu, chestnut, ume plum, cherry blossom, matcha, dry fruits, cassia cinnamon…
I have no ambition to compete in refinement of making with the famous shops. I have them on occasions, not too often as the quality ones are not cheap. Making my snacks is mostly a hobby and a way to avoid the supermarket range ones.
My home-made wagashi don’t always follow the traditional recipes, but I try to indicate when I adapt. Usually, I want mines to be less sweetened.

BASIC RECIPES FOR HOME-MADE WAGASHI

Sweet pastes
There are several sweet pastes called “an”.
“anko” the most common is made of red azuki beans. Other beans are used too, white for “shiro an”, and also red, yellow, black…
“kimi-an” is yellow and egg flavored. “kuri-an” is made with chestnut. Etc

Cooking azuki beans

Making anko (brown filling) from the beans. Tsubuan and koshian. Easy recipe.

Making kimi-an (yellow filling, with egg)

Rice, rice flour, processed rice flours