3 kinds of Sakura, cherry blossom Nerikiri, Japanese decorative sweets

Hello everyone, I'm Leo. Have you ever seen such beautiful dessert? These are Japanese confectionary dessert called Nerikiri, which is often served and eaten with matcha in an authentic tea ceremony. They are made from three bean paste and mochi rice flour and really designed with the season. In today's video, you will see how to make Sakura design Nerikiri. As spring comes in Japan, you will see the most popular flower blooming known as cherry blossom called Sakura in Japanese. Sakura blooms around April all over Japan and they are loved so much. See, this is Sakura's flower and I love this flower so much. So, and then it is a popular seasonal event to have a picnic with your family and friends and fully bloom. Sakura trees. But you may not be able to enjoy a picnic this year because of pandemic. But if you can feel the joy of spring time through this video, it will be my pleasure. I will show you three examples of Sakura Nerikiri in this video. So let's get started. First, I prepared azuki koshian, which means strange sweet azuki bean paste. And I made some Nerikiri paste by mixing white koshian with rice paste called gyuhi. I already colored the white Nerikiri with yellow and red natural colorings made of turmeric and bees. Then, flatten the ball to cover koshian ball with it. Now, let's draw the Sakura pattern with a triangle cross. Make a straight groove and repeat this five times. Next, make petals with a finger. It is beginning to look like a Sakura flower. Continue to work with it and put the tiny cup on the tip of each petal like this and also draw statements. Then, finally, put some yellow Nerikiri that looks like statement. Okay, the next one is a Nerikiri petal. Flatten the white Nerikiri ball and put a flattened pink Nerikiri ball on it. Spread the pink one by patting it so that the border line between pink and white becomes unclear. Then, cover koshian ball with the Nerikiri dough. Next, sharpen and flatten the white side. Make a deep groove on the pink side and draw statement patterns. At the end, pinch the white edge so that the petal seems like it's dancing in the spring breeze. Okay, the last one is a little more difficult. Cover pink Nerikiri ball with the white Nerikiri ball. Then, make a little flattened round ball. Make a small hole on the flat edge of a bamboo skewer. With a needle, make a short straight line and cut two hearts. Then, lift it up a little. Repeat the same thing. Look at that! A blue, blue Sakura flower has appeared. Draw half of the Sakura flower on the edge so that you can imagine that Sakura is fully bloomed. I want people to feel nature in this small dessert. Then, flatten white and pink Nerikiri dough and put them together. Fold it up and flatten over and over so that the borderline becomes unclear. Then, stamp out a couple of Sakura flowers. Okay, so how about that? Do you like them? I hope you enjoyed watching these decorative Japanese desserts called Nerikiri. I'm uploading more videos about Japanese culture on my YouTube channel called Ryo's Japanese Dojo. And sometimes, I have Japanese cooking and sweet-making workshops at the Shumei Haru Center. Actually, it is very fun. So, if you like to make your own small sweets, please check them out. Okay, so have a nice art night. Bye!