10 Japanese sweets which you should absolutely try!
There are so many kinds of shops of confectioneries with all kinds; from traditional Japanese sweets to occidental ones. Please find a list of 10 sweets that you should absolutely try! Which one you wish to try?
1) The dorayaki
The dorayaki is formed by two small pancake-like patties wrapped around a filling of sweet azuki bean paste. There are also some variation like the ones with custard cream or match cream in the place of red-bean paste.
2) The Manju
The manju is a stuffed and steamed confectionary. It is traditionally stuffed with red-bean paste but we find many other stuffings today. The shapes are also in many shapes and the most famous one is in the shape of momiji (maple) leaf.
3) The daifuku
The daifuku is a stuffed bowl of mochi (rice cake). The oldest version is stuffed with red-bean or green-bean paste. Today, there are many variations like stuffed with ice cream, but the one which is very famous is the one with fresh strawberry and red-bean paste which is called ichigo-daifuku.
4) The melonpan
It is a pastery which looks like a sweet brioche in the shape of dome which is crispy in the outside, and soft in the inside.
It is named as melonpan, because the outside checked surface reminds the lines of the cantaloup melons. In Tokyo, the Asakusa district is famous with melonpan.
5) The warabi-Mochi
It is a confectionary having a fresh and jelly-like texture covered with kinako (roasted soybean flour). It is tasteful and good for the health: the kinako has not rich calory and it contains a lot of protein.
6) The kakigori
It is a Japanese ice dessert which used to be eaten at the summer festivals. It is originally a shaved ice dessert with syrup (strawberry or lemon in particular), but there are many other syrups and sauces today.
The kakigori is an indispensable sweet for Japanese summer.
7) The monaka
It is one of the oldest Japanese sweets. Traditionally, the red bean paste filling sandwiched between two thin crisp wafers made from mochi (rice paste), but instead of red bean paste, there is also an ice-cream version or different jams and there are further more variation.
8) The castella
This confectionary has the origin in Portugal. It has been imported by missionnaries during 16th century, and it became popular and is been loved by Japanese people since then until today. It is a sweet sponge cake with starch syrup. The most classic one has the rectangular shape and the brown crust of the cake is not cut.
9) The taiyaki
It is a very popular confectionary. A fish-shaped cake with the filling of red bean taste normally, but there are also vanilla cream or chocolate cream stuffing ones, too. We can find this cake almost everywhere but particularly, it is sold in the stands at the festivals.
10) The dango
The dango is Japanese dumpling made by rice flour, and it looks like mochi, but it is more rubber-like texture. The dango is presented in a skewer. There are many kinds of dango, but the most emblematic ones are the natural tricolored one and also the one called "mitarashi dango" which is covered by sugared soja sauce.
All those sweets are very traditional ones and you can find easily everywhere. This list is not exhaustive, because there are so many other tasty sweets.
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