千本桜はんひち
I visited a friend's family home, which was built at the end of the Taisho era, in a wonderful mansion neighborhood. On the way back, I stopped by a shop to bring some snacks. The shop is often featured in magazines and on TV, so I was curious about it. Since there were few fruits available at this time, there were not many fruit daifuku. I chose the most popular mikan (mandarin orange), the classic strawberry, and a unique one - yuzu shichimi (Japanese spice blend) daifuku. My friend's family home is an old Japanese-Western hybrid house, and it requires a lot of maintenance. I have visited and stayed there many times, as I love that house. The lighting fixtures on the ceiling, which were imported from Europe by sea freight, are beautiful. I ate the mikan daifuku in the spacious reception room with a dome-shaped ceiling. It was neatly sliced and delicious, with the ripe mikan providing sweetness and a hint of acidity, blended with the mochi, white bean paste, and mikan juice. I bought only one to take home. The yuzu shichimi daifuku was interesting - a combination of daifuku with shichimi spice. It had white bean paste in the center, pink bean paste on the outside, and a sprinkle of chili pepper. When I ate it, the fragrance of yuzu, the green zest in the white bean paste, and the spicy shichimi blended well. It was delicious. I thought my friend, who likes spicy food, would enjoy it. Since it's located near Hankyu Nishinomiya Station, I might stop by to buy souvenirs when I go to Osaka by train.