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Traces its origins to the Imperial court, now traditioanlly served at 裏千家's 初釜.
LK explained that for some time it was even 裏千家-exclusive, with
表千家 using the 織部饅頭.
It's 求肥 wrapped around a candied burdock stick (裏千家 traditionally uses 2) and some 味噌餡. It's name comes from a red layer of diamond-shaped 求肥 that peeks through the white.
However, I've seen all sorts of variations: The 中あん being coloured red directly or the burdock stick being replaced with a compote (that's used as 中あん) (see
here).
Since burdock is not so easy to find, I'm using salsify (🇩🇪 Schwarzwurzel) which works really well (or even better 🙊).
Candied Salsify
Wash thoroughly. I like to leave the skin on, it tastes better and gives a nice contrast to the white 求肥.
Cut into 10 cm sticks, boil a few times (changing the water)
Cut into batons of about 4 mm. Half, third, then cut away the core.
1:1 syrup, place salsify in it, boil, stand overnight.
Start to candy by dissolving more and more sugar into the syrup everyday.
➡️ I did it just for 2 days, and it was already quite pleasant!
味噌餡
150 gr 白あん
30 gr white 味噌
5 gr red 味噌
10 gr glucose syrup
50 gr water
➡️ Mix all and heat until dry-ish; but I found that a bit cumbersome and way to 味噌-y, so next time I'd probably use 10:1 ratio and just mix directly. No need for the water nor the glucose. Also use very high-quality 味噌!
Ideas
Pairings: Tonka, Pear, brown butter, coriander seed, white pepper.
Turn the salsify into あん
Use a beure noisette-miso as the filling.
Make bâtons with white chocolate and miso to replace the burdock stick.