Kishimen pie with authentic taste

"Kishimen Pie", which has a light texture, is a pie based on Nagoya's famous kishimen noodles.

Cut the dough thick and long like kishimen. The pie dough is baked in layers. By applying a special sauce containing dried bonito extract, it is just like a full-fledged kishimen.

We were shown a freshly baked kishimen pie. It smells fragrant and looks very delicious. The artisan's smile is also wonderful!

"Aoyagi Ogura Sandwich" is carefully baked one by one.

Here, the Ogura Sandwiches were being made. These baked sweets were made in the image of Ogura Toast, a Nagoya's staple menu item at coffee shops. The cookies were cut out and baked one by one, and the cream and bean paste were done by hand.

Mr. Goto: "The number of azuki beans is also fixed. We try to create a well-balanced sandwich with two azuki beans on each side and three in the middle for a total of seven. Of course, our craftsmen do this work as well, placing them one by one."

The popular classic souvenir “Kaeru manju”

Finally, we saw the working process of "frog manju," a popular manju based on the "frog jumping on a willow" symbol! It is very popular as a standard Nagoya souvenir.

The flavor is strained red bean paste, but depending on the season, you can also enjoy limited flavors.

The shape of the manju was so cute and soothing as it was slowly baked.

The baked frog manju has no face yet. Eyes and mouths are branded one by one. No way, we didn't think the face was hand-made. This time, we had a special branding experience by kindness.

First of all, we were taught how to use a trowel while watching the craftsman's example.

Hold the branding iron firmly with one hand so that the hand does not shake. Carefully and cautiously. It is more difficult than you can imagine to press it in line with the eyes. ...... We got nervous just to press one piece!

Here is the finished frog manju. It's a success!

This factory tour allowed us to rediscover the charm of Aoyagi Sohonke. We used to buy them as a matter of course as Nagoya souvenirs, but now we love them even more than ever after learning about their passion and seeing how the craftsmen carefully and wholeheartedly put their hearts into making them. We are now proud of Nagoya more, a city with such wonderful souvenirs.