To eat or not to eat the cherry blossom leaf…

You may have noticed wagashi wrapped in leaves.

In early spring, that leaf is most likely salted cherry blossom leaves. Salted cherry blossom leaves have a distinct flavor and scent that gets transferred to the wagashi; giving it a sweet-salty-sour combination that blooms in your mouth.

80% of all cherry blossom leaves come from the Izu area in Eastern Japan. The leaves most suitable for wagashi come from the Oshima-zakura (大島桜) breed; known for large minimal-fuzz leaves. The leaves are harvested then salted to enhance their distinctive scent; produced by the chemical compound coumarin. In recent years the amount of snacks that are flavored with coumarin have increased: breads, parfaits, ice cream, jello and all sorts of packaged snacks are sakura-flavored so you can eat it to your heart’s content.

So… eat the leaf?

According to Chomeiji (長命寺), who created the first Sakura-mochi, the purpose of the leaf is to transfer the fragrance, to keep the wagashi from dehydrating and to use as a plate; they recommend to remove the leaf before you eat it. That said, they use three leaves per wagashi which is an explosive amount of salty leaf to eat. Sakura-mochi are usually wrapped with only one leaf giving it a more balanced taste (not to mention mouthfeel). I generally eat one Sakura-mochi with the leaf on and I remove it for the rest.

There are other types of wagashi that use bamboo leaves or Japanese Oak leaves but these are not meant to be eaten.

How do you eat your Sakura-mochi?