In the Citrus Kingdom of Ehime,
Citrus-Inspired Items are Everywhere!
Ehime Prefecture boasts the largest harvest of citrus in all of Japan. One can find all sorts of delicious and charming citrus items here simply by walking around town.
In Part 3, we went hunting for charming and delicious Iyokan items on a walk around Matsuyama’s foremost sightseeing spot, Dogo Onsen!
We also tried our hand at making confectionery arrangements using fresh-picked Iyokans!
We went searching for Iyokan items which are charming to look at and delicious to eat in Japan’s oldest hot spring, Dogo Onsen.
The Symbol of Dogo Onsen for 120 Years and Counting
Dogo Onsen, known as the “oldest hot spring in Japan,” is an absolute must-visit on any trip to Ehime.At just 25 minutes by tram from Matsuyama City, the location is easily accessible and provides a charming townscape for visitors to enjoy. Together with new ventures, including holding art events such as Dogo ONSENART, the area has achieved popularity as one of the country’s foremost places to visit. The place which serves as a symbol for this charming town is the facility known as the Dogo Onsen Honkan. The 3-story wooden building, which was built in the Meiji Era and is said to have served as the motif for a popular anime, was also designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1994 and was the first public bathhouse in the country to receive the designation. The venue was bustling with activity with families, local elderly men and women, couples, and other guests from the early morning on the day of our visit as well. Ah, the luxury of a 100% natural, unfiltered hot spring without any additives. The hot spring is an alkaline simple spring with a smooth texture, but the bath leaves one’s skin feeling well-moisturized. It is also renowned as a spring which doesn’t soon leave the bather feeling chilly after bathing.
In September of last year, the Dogo Onsen Bekkan - Asuka no Yu opened here. This new building is decorated with artwork produced in collaboration with Ehime’s traditional crafts and cutting-edge art and offers an open-air bath with a different feel from the main Honkan building. The bathing area is larger than the one in the Honkan, and an open-air bath is available as well, making this new area popular as a spot to enjoy the baths at Dogo in a more relaxed way. The bathing area also includes projection mapping displays and other unique, new ventures.
Soothe the Fatigue of Your Trip at a 100% Natural, Unfiltered Hot Spring Footbath
There is a 100% natural, unfiltered hot spring footbath using the same waters as the Dogo Onsen Honkan in front of the station as well. In addition, the Dogo Onsen provides 11 other handbath and footbath locations for use free of charge as well. Making the rounds of the town’s footbaths during the spare time in your trip through the area could be a fun experience as well!
"Great for Personal Use or as Souvenirs A Hunt for Made in Ehime Items"
After enjoying the famous waters of Dogo Onsen, we enjoyed a post-bath walk through the nearby shopping street known as Dogo Haikara Dori. Iori Dogo Yunomachi is a store which boasts the largest production output of Imabari Towels, recognized far and wide for their high quality, including their high absorbency and safety, in the country. Their towels are perfect for regular use, and they also have a large selection of items which make great gifts, such as organic baby items and “towelket” blankets. With so much to choose from, it’s certainly reassuring to have staff on hand who are highly knowledgeable about towels.
In addition to towels, they also have juices and condiments made both in Ehime Prefecture and the surrounding areas of Shikoku/Setouchi, as well as an extensive lineup of “Made in Ehime” products, including sweets, Tobe Ware vessels, and more. This is truly the perfect shop to come hunting for souvenirs.
This face towel has a lovely mikan flower motif design. It comes in three colors, orange, yellow, and white, and they tell us that the orange color is only available in Ehime. The towels are so soft and fluffy to the touch that you won’t want to stop touching them.
Enjoy Sweet and Sour Iyokan Gelato at an Ehime Citrus Specialty Shop
At “Ehime Kajitsu Club - Mikan No Ki,” an Ehime citrus juice specialty shop dealing in local Ehime citrus fruit and processed goods on the same shopping street, we discovered Iyokan gelato! It was sweet, sour, and ever so slightly bitter and provided plenty of Iyokan umami to enjoy. I bet it would taste even better right after a nice bath!
The stained glass work “Mikan, Mikan, Mikan,” the original image for which was created by the Imabari City, Ehime born artist Kyoji Takubo, is on display at the domestic arrivals lobby of the Matsuyama Airport.
It is said to have been created with approximately 3,000 glass shards to express the terraced fields which are spread out across the shoreline of the Nanyo region.
The vivid mikan trees and fruit were so beautiful that I ended up taking a picture every time I visited.
Create charming and stylish Iyokan arrangements with simple home recipes!
The most common ways to enjoy Iyokans are to eat them fresh or juice them. Searching for that same fresh Iyokan flavor, we tried our hands at confectionery creations using freshly-picked Iyokans!
We’ve included simple recipes which will allow you to recreate these sweets at home.
- JA Ehime Chuo
Chiaki Morisada
- JA Ehime Chuo
Akane Ishizaki
Make This the First Step in Your Iyokan Confectionery-Making!
Iyokan compote with a harmonious mix of sweet and sour flavor and the slight bitterness of the peel.
Enjoy this recipe by topping it with chopped up bits of peel, turning the resulting syrup into a sauce, or drying it out and enjoying it like dried fruit.
Greatly expand your arrangement possibilities with just once batch of this recipe.
1 Serving
- Iyokan: 1 Fruit
- Granulated Sugar: 60g
- Water: 100g"
- 1) Slice the Iyokan as thinly as possible.
- 2) Add the granulated sugar and water to a pot and bring to a gentle boil. When the granulated sugar has dissolved, add 1) to the pot and boil until the peel becomes soft.
Add a Twist to Regular French Toast With a Refreshing, Sweet and Sour Grown-Up Flavor
Soaking the bread in beaten eggs with grated Iyokan peel overnight adds a punch of flavor. Top with plenty of Iyokan syrup and enjoy!
1 Serving
- Whole Egg: 1
- Milk: 75g
- Fresh Cream: 25g
- Granulated Sugar: 25g
- Grated Iyokan Peel: 1/2 Fruit’s
- Worth Bread (6-Slice Size (Japan)): 1 Piece
- Butter: As Desired
- Iyokan Compote: 3 Pieces
- Iyokan Compote Syrup: 10g
- Iyokan Juice: 20g
- 1) Add the whole egg, milk, fresh cream, granulated sugar, and grated Iyokan peel to a bowl and mix with a whisk.
- 2) Add the bread and mix from 1) into a Tupperware container and allow to soak overnight in the refrigerator.
- 3) Add the butter to a frying pan and heat until it melts. Add 2) to the pan and fry. Cover with a lid and fry until golden brown (approximately 2-3 minutes). Flip and fry the other side the same way.
- 4) Once the french toast has been thoroughly fried, transfer to a plate and place the Iyokan Compote on top.
- 5) Mix the Iyokan Compote Syrup and Iyokan juice together and pour over the toast as desired.
Here Are the Key Points!
We recommend using “English Bread” (white bread with a rounded top like a mountain) because its rough dough pores can completely soak up the egg mixture. Place the bread in a pan well-oiled with butter and fry it thoroughly until the whole piece of bread takes on a golden brown color to get the best possible fragrance from the recipe.
I can smell a refreshing fragrance wafting up from the bread! Maybe this is the fragrance of the peel that was mixed in with the eggs?
It takes on an even stronger sweet and sour flavor with the added syrup. It’s got a simple flavor that makes me feel like I could eat a ton of it.
Add Yogurt & Ice Cream for a Refreshing Parfait
This Iyokan lover’s parfait makes use of the fruit prepared in many different ways, including not only the fruit itself but compote, gelee, dried fruit, and more.
1 Serving
- Iyokan Juice: 20g
- Granulated Sugar: 2g
- Cornstarch: 1g
- Fresh Cream: 20g
- Granulated Sugar: 2g
- Iyokan Fruit: 3 Sections
- Finely Chopped Iyokan Compote: As Desired
- Dried Iyokan Compote: 1 Sheet
- Plain Yogurt: 20g
- 1) Add the Iyokan juice, granulated sugar, and cornstarch to a small pot and mix well. Heat the pot on the stove while mixing with the whisk until the mixture thickens to create the Iyokan gelee. Transfer to a bowl and chill in the refrigerator after the mixture cools.
- 2) Whip the fresh cream with a hand mixer until soft peaks form, then add the granulated sugar and mix together.
- 3) Remove the peel from the three sections of Iyokan and finely chop the Iyokan Compote with a knife.
- 4) Dry the Iyokan Compote in the oven for one hour at 100°C.
- 5) Layer the Iyokan gelee, plain yogurt, peeled Iyokan fruit, and fresh cream in a parfait glass in that order. Add vanilla ice cream and chopped Iyokan on top. Lastly, garnish with the stick of Iyokan Pocky snapped in half.
Here Are the Key Points!
Cut off the top and bottom of the Iyokan and use a knife to remove the peel. Adding cuts diagonally along the film makes it easier to remove the fruit neatly. Grate the remaining peel and add it to the egg mixture for the French toast.
The contrast of white and orange is beautiful! This is great for the coming season.
I see the Iyokan fruit, yogurt, and gelee are stacked in layers. I like how I can enjoy different flavors as I dig deeper with my spoon!
The slightly bitter flavor of the dried Iyokan decoration on top makes for a great palate cleanser when eating this sweet parfait. Twirling the gelee and ice cream around the Iyokan Pocky makes for a delicious combination as well.
- Introducing the Person Responsible for These Iyokan Recipes:
- Toshiko Yamamoto
A pastry chef who dearly loves sweets, alcoholic beverages, and France. She received her instructor license at Il Pleut Sur La Seine in Daikanyama, Tokyo and, after a period of training at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Patisserie, opened her own pastry shop in Kyoto in 2006.
In addition to supervising her Okashi Kyoshitsu Citron (Citron Confectionery Classroom), she also currently works as a bistro and wine brasserie owner. Her forte is making desserts using lemon and all other sorts of citrus fruit.
How did you like these dessert arrangements making the most of the delicious flavor of the Iyokan?
Even our two tasters, who started off saying that Iyokans are really only eaten as-is or turned into jam, ended up completely satisfied and talking about how surprised they were with how many ways the fruit could be enjoyed, how the charming appearance of these sweets would certainly look great on Instagram, and how they wished to make them for their family and friends.
All of the ingredients can be easily purchased at the grocery store, and the recipes themselves are quite simple, so I hope you will make them for yourself at home as well!
Two Days Fully Immersed in the Deliciousness of the Iyokan
I enjoyed making the rounds of the footbaths at Dogo Onsen, strolling around town, the Iyokan dessert arrangements―
but the most impressive part was the Iyokan compote recipe which I learned from Chef Yamamoto and how versatile it was!
It made me want to make a massive amount and store it in my refrigerator to have on hand at all times!
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The bread is fluffy and moist! It goes great with the Iyokan compote topping as well.