Sweets
Hota Yokan
Hota yokan — a steamed brown sugar cake with a spongy, airy crumb
A steamed cake made with brown sugar, known for its chewy crumb and gentle sweetness. Named after hota, a local word for the hollow air pockets that form inside, it is said to have spread after being sold at penny-candy shops in the early Showa era.
- Origin: Tokushima
- About 510 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Hotayōkan is a steamed cake-like sweet made from brown sugar, soft wheat flour, baking soda, and alum. Its name comes from "hota," a local dialect word for the hollow that forms inside as it steams. The brown sugar gives it a deep brown color, a chewy texture, and a rich, simple sweetness. Before the Taisho era, a similar steamed confection called "matsukaze" was eaten instead, and it is said to have taken on the name "hotayōkan" once it began being sold at candy shops in the early Showa era.
How it's made
Getting the right amount of baking soda into the brown sugar batter is said to be the key to a light, sweet finish — too much and it turns bitter, while not fully dissolving the brown sugar leaves dark pockmarks in the batter, so the balance takes some care. The batter is poured into a mold and steamed until set. Unrefined brown sugar was inexpensive and easy to work with, and its deep sweetness is said to be why it became the sugar of choice for this cake.
Why it took this shape
Hotayōkan is said to have spread as a snack eaten during breaks from farm work, its sweetness valued as a comfort for tired bodies. It's also said to have been made to celebrate a good harvest, with households making extra to share with neighbors. Built around brown sugar, a relatively accessible sweetener, and simple enough to make at home, it appears to have taken root as an everyday steamed treat, which seems to be why it's still so well loved today.
Before You Go
- How to shop in a depachika (department store food hall)A guide to browsing prepared foods and bento, choosing wagashi as a gift with a good shelf life, sampling etiquette, end-of-day discounts, asking for cold packs and wrapping, and finding your way around a depachika floor.
- At Kissaten, Cafes, and Kanmi-DokoroThe difference between jun-kissa and chain cafes, the morning-set custom, and kanmi-dokoro staples like anmitsu and zenzai.
Dishes in the same style
- Abekawa MochiFresh-pounded rice cake is dusted in soybean flour mixed with sugar. Named for the Abe River, it's said to have been famous among Tokaido travelers as a teahouse specialty and to appear in the travel novel Tokaidochu Hizakurige.
- Iga ManjuSweet bean paste is wrapped in rice flour dough, then coated with dyed sticky rice grains. One account ties the name to the grains' resemblance to a chestnut's spiny husk, and in the western Mikawa region it's said to be offered to Hina dolls at the Doll Festival.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Tokushima
- Amego no HirarayakiA flat stone is heated over a hearth for hours, then a border of miso is built on it to grill amego trout, stone tofu, and konjac — an outdoor dish from the Iya valley. Its name comes from hirara, a local word for a flat stone, and it is said to have long served as a dish for entertaining guests.
- Awa BanchaA post-fermented tea from Naka and Kamikatsu towns in Tokushima, fermented by lactic acid bacteria. Coarser leaves picked from midsummer on are boiled, packed into wooden barrels, fermented for roughly 10 days to two weeks, then sun-dried — said to give a refreshing sourness.
- Awa BitonRaised in the mountains of Awa City, Tokushima, at about 400 meters, on a feed centered on rice. Handlers are said to adjust the feed mix daily and avoid genetically modified crops where possible.
- Awa GyuPedigreed Japanese Black fattened in Tokushima, which gained recognition after being shown at a Tokyo meat market competition in 1962 — said to have a moist, fine-grained texture and modest fat.
- Awa no ItokoniSweet potato that has been boiled then dried — yude-boshi style — is rehydrated and simmered slowly with red beans for about two hours over low heat. Fitting for a region where drying vegetables is common in winter, it is said to be a warming side dish built on the concentrated flavor of dried sweet potato.