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A shopper steps into K. Minamoto, a Japanese chain selling imported confections at Stanford Shopping Center.
MINAMOTO KITCHOAN BRINGS JAPANESE CULTURE, FLAVORS TO PALO ALTO Story by Sarah Klearman | Photos by Veronica Weber
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t’s well known that there are five principle tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and savory, or what the Japanese call umami. While umami, found in foods like slow-cooked meats and soy sauce, is wellcelebrated in Japan cuisine, a specialty Japanese dessert shop at Stanford Shopping Center is highlighting one of the other four tastes: sweetness. Minamoto Kitchoan, also known as K. Minamoto, opened in Palo Alto in late 2016. The shop sells wagashi, or traditional Japanese desserts that are customarily consumed with tea. The store is a part of a larger company that well
known in Japan, said Aco Foster, who has worked at the Palo Alto bakery since its opening. The company chose to open in Palo Alto because of the wide range of people who live in and visit the city, Foster said. When Minamoto first opened in the United States in, the company wanted to preserve the Japanese style of wagashi and introduce the sweets to American customers who are more often used to a “westernized” version of Japanese desserts, Foster said. Foster, who grew up in Hiroshima and came to the United States in 2008, said she frequented Minamoto Kitchoan
A strawberry mochi display reveals the dark red filling.
while living in Japan. The Palo Alto location is “very much the same” as the Japanese stores, she said. Traditional Japanese desserts often vary in appearance and
Tea is the traditional accompaniment to wagashi confections.
taste from most Americans’ perception, Foster said. Take mochi, whose filling is traditionally made from red bean paste rather than ice cream. “Most people still think
mochi is ice cream, so we want them to try the traditional mochi and traditional Japanese sweets,” Foster said. “It’s a See MINAMOTO, page 22
May 11, 2018 Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q
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