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Taste-testing Kyoto’s newest selling-out sweet sensation.
Kyoto is famous not just for its historical sites and refined culture, but for its delicious food too. That includes sweets, and Kyoto’s best-known and best-loved confectionery is the nama yatsuhashi, a folded triangle of mochi with sweet bean paste inside.
One of the most popular brands of yatsuhashi is Otabe, and on our recent trip to Kyoto we picked up a pack. But we didn’t get just any Otabe, we got the brand-new Fuwafuwa Otabe.
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So what makes these special? “Fuwafuwa” means “soft” or “fluffy” in Japanese, and so the Fuwafuwa Otabe have a pillowy texture, as opposed to the pliant but firm feel of the standard Otabe. Otabe, by the way, is a polite way of saying “please eat,” making Fuwafuwa Otabe essentially “Please partake of these fluffy treats.”
The Fuwafuwa Otabe just went on sale a few days ago and they’ve become an instant hit, with demand so high that some stores have already sold out of their initial shipments. We managed to snag a box of five pieces for 756 yen (US$5.15) at the Otabe shop inside Kyoto Station, though, for the solemn duty of taste-testing Kyoto’s newest sweets sensation.
▼ The wrapper has a picture of a snoozing cherub, in keeping with Fuwafuwa Otabe’s claim that it’s “so soft that even an angel would be surprised.”
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Right away, we could tell that we were in for a softer treat than a regular nama yatsuhashi. The dough is extra-thick too, making each Fuwafuwa Otabe about twice the size of a standard one.
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That also makes Fuwafuwa Otabe noticeably heavier than these kinds of sweets usually are, and that satisfyingly substantial weight, combined with the inviting softness of the mochi, makes it oddly comfortable and comforting to hold in your hand. We also have to award it extra points for the visuals. While orthodox nama yatsuhashi are dusted with cinnamon, Fuwafuwa Otabe is simply sprinkled with a bit of mochi powder, leaving it as pure white as a puffy cloud and adding to its aura of softness.
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When you do eventually bite into it, Fuwafuwa Otabe is exquisitely soft and chewy, and there’s a surprising ingredient that helps it achieve that. Looking at the ingredients, we learned that whipped egg whites, in other words meringue, goes into the dough. There’s another special guest ingredient in the filling, as the anko (sweet red bean paste) gets a touch of butter to provide additional richness.
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Nama yatsuhashi occupy a unique culinary space in that, on one hand, they’re a traditional Japanese confectionery associated with Japan’s most traditional major city. At the same time, Kyoto confectioners have created all sorts of unique nama yatsuhashi flavors, like strawberry and chocolate banana, that have been enthusiastically embraced by sweets fans too. Because of that, Fuwafuwa Otabe is likely to remain a hit, and while it’s not a limited-time item, its popularity means you’ll probably want to pick yours up early in the day before stores sell out, and do your other Kyoto plans (like eating green tea sakura parfaits) afterwards.
Related: Otabe shop list
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