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Decchi Yokan ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

  • Fukui Prefecture

    Decchi Yokan

Decchi Yokan

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  • Main lore areas

    All of Fukui Prefecture

  • Main ingredients used

    "Koshi-an" (=Mashed red bean paste), Bar-style Kanten (=agar-agar), White sugar, Salt

  • History/origin/related events

    "Decchi Yokan" is a soft sweet red bean jelly familiar as an ordinal taste of local people in Fukui, and served during cold time as a winter food. The origin of its name is that "decchi" (an apprentice) apprenticed in Kyoto brought "youkan" from there when they came back home in Fukui during the New Year. They re-made ‘yokan’ by diluting with water to distribute ‘yokan’ to their neighbors. This process made "yokan" soft and eaten in winter when the sugar content was low but not easily damaged. Others says its name came that Japanese confectioneries use the word "decchi-ru", means "to knead ingredients". The characteristic of this sweets is not only to be eaten during winter, but also its size and the way to be eaten. Long ago, there were "Decchi yokan" with breaks sold in a lacquer wooden box at vegetable stores and small-time candy stores, and they scooped it with a spatula along breaks when they ate. The amount of red beans and sugar was less than regular "yokan", it was inexpensive than other Japanese sweets and affordable for ordinally people. Nowadays it is sold in a flat box; the common size of the box is A4 size (21cm x 29.7cm, 8.3 inches x 11.7 inches) with 2cm (0.8 inch) of height.

  • Opportunities and times of eating habits

    It is often eaten as a winter food in Fukui Prefecture. It is a custom to eat smooth texture of "Decchi yokan" while warming themselves in a "kotatsu" (=Japanese table with electric warmer).

  • How to eat

    It is eaten in winter, not summer. It is in a flat paper box with A4 size with 2cm of height, and has breaks. They use a wooden spatula, comes along with the "yokan", to scoop it.

  • Efforts for Preservation and Succession

    (Outline of the traditions, the preservation society, social media use, modern approaches to commercialization)
    It is manufactured at Japanese confectioneries in Fukui Prefecture, and sold at stores and online. In Reihoku region, it is also called "mizu-yokan" (=soft red bean jelly), and some use brown sugar for this. In Ohno City, they held "Decchi Yokan Festival" to promote this sweets as a local brand.

RECIPE

Ingredients (10 servings)

  • Bar-style Kanten (=agar-agar) 8g (1)
  • Water 5 - 5 1／2 cups
  • White sugar 230g
  • Koshi-an (=Mashed red bean paste) 150g
  • Salt A little

How to cook

  • 1. Rinse kanten well with water, then tear and dehydrate it.

  • 2. Sqeeze 1 well, then heat with water to dissolve.

  • 3. Once kanten was completely dissolved, add white sugar and simmer a while. Then, add "koshi-an" and a little of salt. (Dissolve "koshi-an" with dissolved "kanten" and add "koshi-an" little by little. Don’t add "koshi-an" at once.)

  • 4. Boil 3 lightly then stop heating. After cool it down a bit, pour into a wet cooking tray, then cool to set.

provider : "Hotto Surune Furusato no Aji" (Fukui Prefecture)

Recipes vary depending on the region and home.

Contact

Food Cultures Office, Overseas Market Development and Food Cultures Division, Food Industry Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Tel:+81-3-3502-5516

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