Japanese people fancy desserts and we know that the country harbors a strong fondness for desserts. These desserts include both traditional and western delicacies. Even before sugar was introduced to the sweet industry, Japanese have been making sweets using rice, sweet beans, sweet plant sap and flower nectar. When sugar finally arrived in the country, the love for desserts in Japan intensified and there was a boom in creating western- style sweets and experimenting the existing traditional ones.
Though, today, there are a lot of sweets available in the country but these are some that you had no idea about.
Read on to know all about them.
1.) Mochi ice cream
This is how the sweet is made: The outside is made of sweet rice dough called mochigome and filled with a soft ice cream. This is served during the Japanese New Year but people eat it all year round.
2.) Yokan
It is a thick gelatin-like dessert typically made with adzuki beans (bean paste), agar-agar, and sugar.
3.) Dango
This is a Japanese dumpling that is made from rice flour. You will also find this sweet treat served with green tea.
4.) Imagawayaki
A popular festival treat, this is made of batter in a special pan similar to a waffle iron and is filled with a variety of ingredients including adzuki bean paste, vanilla custard, preserves, sometimes even meat, vegetables, and more.
5.) Hanabira Mochi
It is a white mochi wrapped around a pink mochi, and filled with white or sweet white miso, along with a candied gobo root that sticks out on the sides of the pastry.
6.) Monaka
It is made of two thin crispy wafers that are made of sticky rice. They are then sandwiched with fillings like adzuki bean paste and ice cream.
7.) Anmitsu
A parfait-style dish that consists of sweetened red bean paste, small cubes of jelly (agar- agar), and fresh fruit topped with an utterly dark sweet syrup called kuromitsu.
8.) Sakura Mochi
It is a mochi flavored with red cherry blossoms and is often filled with red bean paste, and wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom leaf. Umm, yummy!!
9.) Manju
This is like the other Japanese desserts where manju; made up of flour, buckwheat, and rice powder is filled with sweet red bean paste.
10.) Japanese Crepe
Yes, we know crepes are from France but this one is typically rolled into a cone-like shape and filled with delicious goodies that include ice cream, fresh fruit, chopped nuts, and more of tiny delicacies.
11.) Namagashi
As beautiful as these look, they are freshly prepared sweet styled in a beautiful design, like a flower or leaf or even a fruit. These are often served at tea ceremonies. Not just this but these are filled with jellies or bean paste.
So, who’s ready to eat ’em all??
