Sakuramochi

Sakuramochi (桜餅) is a spring wagashi built around sweetened bean paste wrapped in a rice-based dough and, in turn, wrapped in a salted, pickled cherry (sakura) leaf. It has two genuinely different regional versions: Kanto-style (Chōmeiji), with a thin, crepe-like wrapper and koshian filling, originating in 1717 near Tokyo’s Sumida River, and Kansai-style (Dōmyōji), with a coarser, chewier wrapper made from dōmyōji-ko (steamed, dried, coarsely ground glutinous rice) and tsubuan filling, named after Dōmyōji Temple in Osaka. Whether to eat the leaf is debated; Chōmeiji’s own maker recommends removing it before eating, since its role is to add fragrance and retain moisture rather than to be eaten itself.