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Unknown food gift can someone help?

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Pieter

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I would appreciate it if someone can help me to identify a gift from a technician who installed a machine in our laboratory. He understands no English as I understand no Japanese! He just said: "Japanese cookie!"

The package has the dimensions of a large chocolate block: 20x8cm
Inside the cellophane packaging are 10 soft (but fairly dried out similar to dried fruit rolls) stacked thin jello-like layers.
The layers are cut in smaller rectangular shaped strips, each strip about 8x3cm
Each strip (the whole block layer by layer actually) is light brown with white-yellow patterns like wood grain - but remember it's still jello (agar/kelp?).
The package is dated (20-05-2006) which I presume would be the eat-by-date stamp indicating a fresh food produce.

I'm quite allergic to shell-fish and don't want to go that route again, but I really would like to try it. Might it be a sweet or dessert (wa-gashi with azuki) or must it be baked or oil-fried first?

Thanks for any advise!
Peter
 
Umm, maybe if you are able to post a photo that would help people to identify it? :?
Sorry not to be so helpful, but I don't recognise that food......
 
Kinsao said:
Umm, maybe if you are able to post a photo ...
Click to expand...

It will be a while for me to get to my digital camera, but I will get to that soon!

PS. It really looks like the light-brown boiled American sugar fudge but very soft (like rubber) and cool to the touch! The packet is totally sealed but not vacuum-packed. It was bought in an apartment store: Takashimaya (as it was giftwrapped by the store and they sealed it with their sticker).

Peter
 
It really doesn't sound like it has shellfish in it, but it's impossible to tell what it is from that description. A photo of the ingredient list would also be helpful. They put weird things in food sometimes.
 
I think it's most likely something sweet (though probably not too sweet), I think it's a kind of common, giri, or obligation gift--- something you give to your neighboors when you move into an appartment, or your landlord.
 
im just waiting on the picture. got me wonderin...
 
Does it look like this?


I'm sorry, I have a poor imagination. I only came up with something like that with your discription.
 
Here's the picture!

As I said it is as thick and large as a typical block (slab) of chocolate. It is fudgebrown in colour and cut in thin (2mm) rectangular shapes of 3x8 cm and jelly-like in texture. I still haven't opened the pack as to preserve it and just need to know if I should bake, grill or fry it - or eat it as it is. It was a giri gift yes! Insets: top left shows close-up of texture, bottom right is a copy from perhaps the ingredients at back, but readable detail may be lost due to jpeg image.

Pieter

 
it's a kyoto specialty treat called namayatsuhashi. azuki is a common filling, but there are kinds without any filling at all. Either way, you don't have to worry about shellfish.
 
nice gaijin said:
it's a kyoto specialty treat called namayatsuhashi. azuki is a common filling, but there are kinds without any filling at all. Either way, you don't have to worry about shellfish.
Click to expand...

Thank you for all the replies! Does somebody know al the ingredients and how it is made (I love recipes!)? I accept that it does not need any additional preparation and can be eaten as it comes form the package?
 
Pieter said:
Thank you for all the replies! Does somebody know al the ingredients and how it is made (I love recipes!)? I accept that it does not need any additional preparation and can be eaten as it comes form the package?
Click to expand...

Namayatsuhashi is made of rice flour (two different kinds), sugar, and water, all mixed and steamd. Also cinnamon is added.
*Edit: the one you got is from a shop called ﾋ?､窶懌?ｺ窶敖ｪ窶ｹ'窶怒窶｢ﾃ? and its website says they also use kinako (soy bean powder).
http://www.yatsuhashi.co.jp/introduction/seiho.html

First it used to sold only baked (which was called "yatsuhashi"), it is rather had and crunchy but later someone started to sell it without baking, which is very soft and a bit chewy. "Nama" of "namayatsuhashi" means "raw".
http://www.shogoin.co.jp/pro.html
Top left is yatsuhashi in the original style.
Top right is smaller piece, sugar coated.
Second from the top, the left one is namayatsuhashi you've got, the right one is with "an" (azuki bean paste) in it.

You can eat namayatsuhashi as it is, no need to cook, it has nice flavour of cinnamon and its texture might be interesting for you, surely something quite new?
Enjoy Japanese sweets!
 
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