練り切り・ねりきり
Nerikiri
A dough of white bean paste kneaded with a binder — the signature dough of jo-namagashi.
Nerikiri is a dough made by adding a binder such as gyuhi or yam to white bean paste and kneading it over heat. Sweets shaped from this dough are also called nerikiri. It has a very fine texture and can be shaped freely.
Tinted softly with food coloring, it is shaped with the palms and fingertips, a triangular spatula (sankaku-bera), a bleached cotton cloth and other tools to capture the forms of the season: cherry blossoms, chrysanthemums, autumn leaves. A single gradation or layering of color changes the whole impression — among wagashi, this is one where a painter's eye truly comes alive.
Generally speaking, nerikiri is said to be the mainstream jo-namagashi in the Kanto (Tokyo) region, while in Kyoto it is konashi. The two look very much alike, but nerikiri is softer and melts smoothly in the mouth.
