is a wagashi made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar. It is usually sold in a block form, and eaten in slices. There are two main types: neri yà Âkan and mizu yà Âkan. means "water", and indicates that it is made with more water than usual. Mizu yà Âkan is usually chilled and eaten in the summer, however in Fukui prefecture it is customarily eaten in winter.
Although yà Âkan found in Japan and abroad is typically made with red bean paste, yà Âkan made from is also relatively common. This type of yà Âkan is milky and translucent with a much milder flavour than that made of red bean paste. As such, it can be effectively flavoured and coloured by using green tea powder.
Yà Âkan may also contain chopped chestnuts, persimmons, whole sweetened azuki beans, figs, and sweet potato (imo yà Âkan), among other additions. Sugar can also be replaced with honey, dark brown sugar, or molasses to alter the taste of the yà Âkan produced. There is also shio yà Âkan, which uses small amounts of salt.
During the Kamakura period (1185âÂÂ1333), Japanese Buddhist monks who studied in the Song dynasty brought the tea culture to Japan, and the custom of eating confections with tea began in Japan. The monks also introduced , a light meal, and the history book mentions , , and as . However, the manjà « and yà Âkan brought to Japan by the monks were not sweets as we know them today, but were prepared in a completely different way.
Yà Âkan comes from the Chinese word yang geng (ç¾Âç¾¹ "sheep geng"), which is a type of mutton soup. But since there was no custom of eating animal meat in Japan, the Japanese replaced the meat with a paste made of kneaded barley or azuki bean flour. Later, the soup was removed and replaced with a pasty confection made of barley or azuki bean flour. Finally, around 1800, during the Edo period (1603âÂÂ1868), 500 years later, yà Âkan became what it is today.
The invention of in the 1600s was essential to the birth of modern yokan. Later, the kanten invented in Japan was introduced to Manchuria, Korea and Taiwan.
YÃ Âkan is used as an ingredient in other foods, such as "Siberia", a type of castella cake.