On fresh agar

Since the first generation opened Kawaume in Tsukiji in 1899 (Meiji 32), five generations have kept the sweet shop going.

We simmer tengusa from Izu-Shimoda, strain it, and let it set — never frozen, never dried, cut that same morning. This “fresh agar” has a bite and a scent unlike any dried agar from a packet.

Hokkaidō azuki, simmered slow so each bean stands; Okinawan brown-sugar kuromitsu, dark and deep. The three meet in one bowl — that is Kawaume’s anmitsu. The same one bowl, served from a corner of the outer market.