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Kudzu is a climbing plant that grows naturally in the mountains and fields. The powdered starch made from the roots of the kudzu plant, Yoshino hon-kuzu is used to make Japanese sweets and to thicken dishes.
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The mystery of Yoshino Kudzu Starch
Why Yoshino?
The Yoshino brand of kudzu powder was created by
tradition and Yoshino's popularity
It is said that kudzu powder began to be used in sweets and cooking after the 13th century, but the time is still debated. Eventually, kudzu-root powder and cakes became Yoshino's specialty. This is not a mystery, but a historical fact. People on pilgrimage to Yoshino praised the kudzu powder from this region. At the beginning of the Edo period (1603 – 1868), Doan Kurokawa, a doctor of Chinese medicine in Kyoto, ordered kudzu from Yoshino and presented this powder to the imperial court where he was praised for its flavor. He then moved from Kyoto to Uda in Nara in 1650. The Kurokawa family continues to make kudzu powder in Uda. Around the same time, the long-established Morino family moved from Yoshino to Uda, where they too, still produce kudzu powder. In this way, the Yoshino kudzu brand was created.
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How is it made?
Refining - Careful care and
"cold soaking"
(Yoshino soaking) is the secret
Yoshino kudzu production is characterized by its cold-season processing wherein, like the transformation of a dark swan chick into a beautiful white swan, the starch extracted by pounding the roots of kudzu settles to the bottom of the cold clear water in which it is immersed. The water is changed repeatedly to yield highly purified kudzu powder. The use of extremely cold water serves to prevent impurities and bacteria from tainting the starch during this refining process. Even the snow-white Yoshino kudzu produced through this Yoshino cold soaking method retains the subtle characteristic kudzu flavor that connoisseurs appreciate.
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What is it used for and how?
In cooking, Yoshino kudzu starch can be used as a main ingredient or in a supporting role. It’s the star of kudzu-kiri noodles and kudzu-mochi rice cakes. It is a thickener in sesame tofu, steamed yokan sweets, soups, meat/fish balls and warming winter drinks. In other words, the first type involves consuming the kudzu itself, and the second type, using the kudzu as a bond, which combines with other ingredients to create texture and add flavor. Currently, the most common use of kudzu powder is as an ingredient in Japanese sweets. New sweets are also being created that take advantage of the texture and taste of kudzu powder. The kudzu plant is attracting attention as a tasty organic ingredient which replaces animal-based gelatin.
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