Shiki-Mandou

Voluminous and delicious mochi-filled monaka

“Shiki-Mandou” made by Kajiwaya, a confectioner in Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture, is a rice cake-filled monaka characterized by its square shape.

The words “Shiki-Mantou” painted on the package looked like ancient Chinese gold seal characters, which I could not read. At first I didn’t think it was a monaka because of its size, but I bought it anyway,

It is a fairly tall square monaka. I like this pattern a lot, because it means that the bean paste inside the monaka is filled with gyuhi.

I tried to split it in half to take a peek inside, but failed to do so because the gyuhi was too big and firm. I squashed it, but a large piece of bean paste and a large piece of gyuhi appeared.

The dough of the monaka is delicate and crumbles easily with a little force, but it is very pleasant to the palate. The red bean paste is also elegant and delicious. It is a fairly large monaka.