Gyūhi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gyūhi (求肥) is a form of wagashi (traditional Japanese sweet). Gyūhi is a softer variety of mochi (餅), and both are made from either glutinous rice or from mochiko (餅粉), which is glutinous rice flour.

Because gyūhi is more delicate, it is usually less frequently made and served than mochi. It is sometimes featured in sweets that originated in the Kyoto area. Tinted gyūhi is the base of matsunoyuki, a wagashi that resembles a pine tree dusted with snow.

Gyūhi is also used as an ingredient in other wagashi such as nerikiri (煉り切り), which is made of a blend of gyūhi and shiroan (白餡), a white bean-based version of anko). Nerikiri is often tinted and molded in ways similar to the treatment of marzipan in Western desserts.

[edit] Matsunoyuki

Matsunoyuki (松の雪, Matsunoyuki^? literally pine snow) is a Japanese sweet made by sprinkling ground caramelo on to a dark green gyuuhi in the shape of a pine tree [1]. Matsunoyuki is intended to illustrate snow on a pine tree, a symbol of long life and a strong life force. The gyuu is a form of Turkish delight, made from starch and sugar, flavoured with rosewater or lemon.