I've been remiss about blogging lately even more so than usual, because I've been spending a lot of time back in Japan. It may be difficult for some of you to imagine this, but this Japanese household did not even have one camera until recently and my sister's iPhone is currently on its way to the Apple Graveyard. Anyway, I didn't make these. I wish I could say that I did.
These are Nerikiri from a wonderful Japanese sweets shop called Osakaya in Mita, Tokyo. Osakaya is a family business that has been around for 17 generations spanning a period of around 300 years.
Nerikiri are made from ingredients such as Shiratama Flour (processed glutinous rice flour), glutinous rice flour, sugar, Mizuame (starch syrup), Azuki bean paste, white bean paste or boiled egg yolks.
A good quality Nerikiri will have a very smooth texture and will have a subtle sweetness to it. Osakaya appears to blend their Azuki bean paste with white bean paste so that the flavor of Azuki does not dominate and become overpowering, but I don't really know what they do to achieve this effect.
I do however recommend that you pick-up some sweets at this shop if you are in the neighborhood. The quality of their sweets are really exceptional.
