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Spruce up your spaghetti, sakura-style.

We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but if you didn’t go out to see the cherry blossoms last week, you sort of missed your chance. With the exception of northeastern Japan, where the sakura bloom later because of the colder climate, the majority of the country’s delicate pink flowers have now fluttered down to the ground, and come this weekend, they’ll have blown away in the wind.

But while it’s largely too late to see Japan’s favorite flower on the trees, you’ve still got plenty of time to see them on your plate with sakura pasta.

Produced by Yamagata Prefecture-based noodle maker Tamaya Seimen, the colorful creation is a durum wheat pasta that gets its hue from mixing the grain with beets. The result is a cherry blossom-pink which the pasta retains even after cooking.

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While the cherry blossoms are a decidedly Japanese motif, the pasta itself is Western-style, and so it doesn’t necessarily have to be incorporated into traditional Japanese dishes. Tamaya Seimen recommends adding it to soups and salads, and a single piece certainly does look lovely floating in a cup of cream-based broth.

Of course, sakura pasta doesn’t look out of place at all as part of a Japanese bento boxed lunch either.

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* 20160317 * * 今日は修了式、 お昼までだけど弁当持参日。 * 5年生は卒業式の準備で遅くなるみたい。 * おかずが茶色多めというか、、ほぼ茶色?(*´ー`*) 鮭と桜のマカロニのピンクのおかげで少し明るくなってホッとしたお弁当です💕 * 久々作った、鶏ハムはマヨ卵を添えました。 ほうれん草はチーズで巻いてみたけど、醤油垂らすの忘れたー 大根の煮物は娘たち大好きなので夜中に煮ました^^; * 桜のマカロニ、少し前のなったまご飯やお弁当にも使ってます、 #玉谷製麺所 #TAMAYALAB. #サクラパスタ #国産ビーツ で色付けされてるみたいです、とても可愛い🌸 * * * #おかべん#弁当#お母さん弁当#eCoおかべん#お昼が楽しみになるお弁当#修了式#日々#日常#暮らし#茶色弁当#nisnap#instafood

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Tamaya Seimen’s sakura pasta cooks in about seven minutes, and can be ordered here through the company’s online store at a price of 400 yen (US$3.75) for a 100-gram (3.5-ounce) package. And don’t worry, it’s got a shelf life of one year, meaning buying enough to tide yourself over until the sakura bloom again next spring is a viable option.

Source: Grape via Japaaan
Top image: Tamaya Seimen (edited by RocketNews24)
Insert image: Rakuten (edited by RocketNews24)