A popular wagashi from Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture in Japan is the Hatada Kuri Tart, a soft Castella sponge rolled around smooth red bean paste scented with yuzu and studded with chopped chestnut.
Since it was first produced in 1975, it first received the Gold Award at the World Food Competition held by Monde Selection in 1993 and has gone on to receive it in 2017 for 27 consecutive years.
The Kuri Tart draws its inspiration from the ‘torta’ in Portgual, a Castella sponge rolled around jam. Here, the red bean paste replaces the jam.
The ‘tart’, or more aptly described as a cake, is pre-sliced and smells lightly sweet like a sponge cake with little hint of the filling. Upon tasting, though, a red bean paste studded with cubes of chestnut brought a nutty sweetness to the sponge that is accented by pops of zesty yuzu flavour that came through mid-bite and cut through the sweetness of the red bean for a refreshingly uplifting cake. The red bean paste is smooth and brought just enough moisture to balance the more dense texture of the Castella sponge. Overall, this Kuri Tart delights the taste buds with a pleasantly complementary combination of red bean, chestnut and surprisingly, yuzu.
This Hatada Kuri Tart contained 5 slices. It was produced in Japan and gifted by visitors to Shikoku, Japan in 2017.