Could yokan jelly ever become as popular as chocolate?

Kurokawa: It's been 33 years since we opened our Japanese confectionery shop in Paris, back in 1980.

Yokan jelly is an important part of our lineup in Japan and we keep hoping Parisians will like it, too. In fact, it is actually gaining a few fans. Yokan comes in blocks, the color is dark, and the appearance doesn't hint at what it tastes like. Anyway, we began including ingredients Westerners like, such as black currants, mint, pears and baked apple. And we gave our modified yokan nice coloring and cut it into bite-size pieces.

Aoki: Actually, yokan isn't my favorite either! If you want Europeans to like the taste you'll probably need some more changes, like, aim for a different texture, use firm, chunky bean paste, avoid agar-agar (seaweed jelly), and give it a marron glacé effect.

Yokan ends up tasting more of sugar than of adzuki beans. And the Western palate generally doesn't enjoy the texture of agar-agar.

Kurokawa: You're right about how most French people have not taken to yokan yet. But Asians tend to be more positive about it. People in China, South Korea and Southeast Asia are quite at home with simmered adzuki beans, a major ingredient in yokan. And its texture is somewhat like dates, a favorite food in the Middle East, so probably they would like yokan, too.

But think about it—people found chocolate bitter when it first arrived in Spain in the 1500s, but after it was sweetened it became a big item worldwide. I'm hoping to help put yokan on a similar path.