Yatsuhashi is widely available around Kyōto and especially the tourist districts. It’s a famous regional confectionery made from glutinous rice flour, sugar and cinnamon.  The confectionery is available baked when it is similar to senbei or rice crackers, and unbaked. We’re fans of the unbaked yatsuhashi (nama yatsuhashi) which is often wrapped around red bean paste (an) and sold in a variety of different flavours.

We almost always return from Japan with a pack or two if we happen to visit Kyōto at the end of our trip (they have a short one-week shelf life). This one here is Honke Nishio Yatsuhashi Black Sesame Annama Yatsuhashi. Honke Yatsuhashi Nishio is one of the oldest names selling yatsubashi, founded in 1689 and now with numerous shops around Kyōto.

Each tray of annama yatsuhashi comes with 5 pieces.

Each piece is ~10 cm wide and black in colour with a black sesame and red bean filling and dusted in rice flour.

A gentle black sesame aroma was evident on opening the package. Upon tasting, a mellow fragrant sweetness with just a hint of cinnamon came through in the nama yatsuhashi with its soft, mochi-like texture. Black sesame notes do not came through in the dough itself, which gets its colour from charcoal, but are prominent in the red bean paste, which retains its earthy, sweet bean flavour in the background and brought additional texture to the finely ground black sesame.

Black sesame is D and my favourite flavour of annama yatsuhashi and perfect for pairing with tea.

Honke Nishio Yatsuhashi Black Sesame Annama Yatsuhashi contained 5 pieces. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Kyōto, Japan in 2018.