Yokan, a Japanese jellied confection, is said to date back some thousand years. Now Japanese producers, with the support of their government, are promoting it in the United States. Simply made from bean paste, sugar and the thickening agent agar, it’s usually formed into chewy, colorful little blocks, sometimes flavored with banana or coconut. Japanese markets in New York sell various yokan candies. Bill Yosses, the pastry chef, is now making yokan “pops” ($5) in several flavors at his Palais restaurant on the Upper East Side; Dylan Lauren also sells them at Dylan’s Candy Bar near Union Square. She said she liked the way the pops made yokan fun. There is more than one yokan museum in Japan, and on Friday and Saturday in New York, there will be an exhibit called Yokan Collection, sponsored by the Japanese government, with 14 yokan makers participating and offering samples.
Yokan Collection, Project Farmhouse, 76 East 13th Street, projectfarmhouse.org, free.
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