From sakura flavored chocolates to cakes, it is all over the place. Sakura mochi is one of the more traditional spring sweets. There are different varieties of this popular treat. Depending on who you ask, they will describe one of two very different treats.
If you are in the Kanto region (Eastern Japan, including Tokyo), you can usually find both varieties. In the Kanto region, if you ask for "sakura mochi", you will receive chomeiji. Whereas, if you ask for "sakura mochi" in Kansai (Western Japan, including Osaka), you will be offered a completely different treat, known as domyoji.
To confuse matters, if you ask for "chomeiji" in Tokyo, they might not know what you are talking about because it is referred to as sakura mochi in Kanto. It is the same if you ask for "domyoji" in the Osaka. They might not know what you are talking about because it is referred to as sakura mochi in Kansai. While domyoji can be found in Tokyo, it is not called sakura mochi there. Domyoji is only called domyoji in Tokyo.
Sakura mochi can be found in department store basements and many other places, including convenience stores. We buy ours at the traditional sweets shop in town - Kashidokoro Akagi - which carries both varieties.
Chomeiji is a pink crepe wrapped around smooth sweetened red bean paste (anko) and wrapped with a sakura leaf. The original crepe was made with wheat flour, but some shops now use mochi flour. Either way, it is not actually mochi.
Domyoji (doe-me-oh-jee) consists of anko, wrapped in a course mochi made from domyoji flour and a sakura leaf. Domyoji flour is produced by soaking and steaming rice, then drying it out and coarsely grinding it. The grainy mochi is typically dyed pink, but not every shop does this.
When we decided to buy spring inspired treats, my husband stated he wanted to get domiyoji. It is the sakura mochi of his childhood.
Sakura mochi does not have an extremely strong flavor. However, the strongest taste comes from the salty sakura leaf. Some people remove the leaf before eating the treat, but I always leave it on. I like how the saltiness and flavor lingers for a while.
After taking a bite of the domiyoji, my husband closed his eyes and said "this tastes like spring."
When he makes comments like this, it makes me think of all those holiday related flavors that encourage happy memories to reveal themselves. When my friend made gingerbread cookies this winter, I had a similar reaction. Although the flavor of sakura mochi doesn't invoke the same emotions for me, it is becoming more so each spring I am living here.
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