Yokan Japanese confectionery

Yokan: Traditional Japanese Dessert

Yokan is a very popular dessert in Japan, made with agar agar (a plant-based gelling agent made from seaweed, which can also be eaten by vegans), sugar and ground azuki beans. Yokan is also often used as a gift. It is cube-shaped and can be of various sizes. Its dark brown to dark purple color comes from the azuki beans.

There are different variations of yokan. It is often refined with chestnuts, whole azuki beans, figs, sweet potatoes or other ingredients. The modern variants can have quite fancy combinations and of course there is also a matcha version.

Traditional desserts in Japan are called "wagashi" and can be quite expensive.

How to serve Yokan?

Yokan can be served chilled or unchilled. "Mizu Yokan" is the chilled version, which is particularly popular in summer. It is slightly softer and creamier than the regular version. Yokan can also be served with various toppings such as kinako (soybean powder).

Making Yokan yourself

You can easily make the delicious Japanese dessert yourself. You only need the following ingredients:

• 2 tsp Agar Agar (available in larger supermarkets)
• 300 ml water
• 350 g Anko (sweet red bean paste)
• 200 g brown sugar

Preparation

Pour the water into a pot and bring it to a boil. Then add the agar agar and stir until it has completely dissolved in the water. Then let it boil for another two minutes.

Then add the sugar and the bean paste and stir everything gently until the sugar has dissolved and a uniform mass has been formed.

Pour the yokan mixture into a mold of your choice and let it cool for about two hours until it is firm.

Tip: You may need to adjust the amount of sugar, as store-bought anko is sometimes sweeter and sometimes less sweet.