Toraya’s yokan is made from carefully selected, premium plant-based ingredients. Indispensable to yokan-making are ingredients like azuki beans, kanten (agar) and sugar.
How Yokan is Made
1. Carefully select azuki beans and other ingredients
2. Simmer the beans to make azuki bean paste
To make azuki bean paste, called an, sugar is added to azuki beans that have been simmered, crushed and had skins removed, and the mixture is cooked. Because many types of wagashi, including yokan, are made using the resulting azuki bean paste, it is often described as “the essence of wagashi”.
Japanese people have had a deep connection with azuki beans since ancient times. Their reddish color has long been considered effective in warding off disaster and disease, making the beans a valuable component of foods at annual rituals and milestone events.
3. Make the yokan mixture
Kanten is heated to dissolve and added to the azuki bean paste along with sugar, and the mixture is kneaded over heat. Achieving the correct consistency is critical. At Toraya, our highly experienced artisans determine readiness by observing how the mixture trickles from the spatula.
Kanten is a traditional Japanese ingredient made from seaweed. It is, in effect, a plant-based gelatin.
4. Cool and set the mixture
The mixture is poured into a mold and chilled. It sets due to the gelling properties of kanten, and the yokan is ready.
The above describes the method for one type of yokan. At Toraya, in addition to the above, we make a range of yokan, including soft varieties with high moisture content, steamed varieties with a springy texture, and contemporary yokan that incorporate ingredients such as cacao and fruit.