The sugar cane used for wasanbon toh: Chikutoh

Shown above is a type of sugar cane called "chikutoh", the ingredient used in wasanbon toh. It is only two meters tall even when it is fully grown, and is only as thick as an adult's index finger. It looks quite different from the sugar cane cultivated in Taiwan or Cuba. Since it is thinner than regular sugar cane, the local people call it "hosokibi"(thin cane). "Chikutoh" is very tasty even when eaten raw.

Tall, thick sugar cane is normally used in manufacturing sugar in order to increase productivity. Also, they extract only the sucrose in making sugar, and the other components are discarded.

Although "Togi" is an imcomplete refining process, that imcompleteness itself makes wasanbon toh different from others. Wasanbon toh retains the good flavor of the original sugar cane in a condensed form. The process of making wasanbon toh, therefore, is the process of condensing and retaining the original flavor of the sugar cane.

Although the unique process of fabricating wasanbon toh by hand is one element that makes it different from others, the most important is its ingredients, the case in any kind of food.

The only reason why wasanbon toh is produced in temperate Tokushima, Japan, is that this kind of sugar cane grows well there.

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