Japanese sweets have a delicate appearance and a delicate flavor.
There are many Japanese sweets that you will want to try again after eating.
There are many Japanese sweets for each season, and the Japanese sweets sold vary depending on the season.
Since there are many fresh sweets, the short shelf life is a problem. .. ..
In other words, it is not suitable as a souvenir, so we recommend you to enjoy it in Japan.
Enjoy it with your eyes, your nose, and your mouth.
Enjoy Japanese sweets with 3 sets of visual, smell and taste.
So I will introduce Japanese confectionery [Spring Edition] so that everyone can enjoy visually.
Are Japanese sweets a healthy food?
Of course, healthy food. Most Japanese sweets use rice cakes, but many Japanese sweets do not use oil. Since the ingredients used are carefully selected, they are eaten as elegant sweets both in Japan and around the world.
List of Japanese sweets in spring season
In spring, many Japanese sweets are inspired by plants. Spring is a pleasant season when plants sprout. There are many delicious Japanese sweets. The Japanese sweets introduced here are just a few. Please enjoy visually.
Sakuramochi
This Sakura Mochi is famous in the Kanto region. Wheat flour is used for the mochi that is wrapped. It is made by wrapping bean paste in the mochi,which is made by mixing wheat flour with water and baking it separately.
By the way, Kanto Sakura Mochi is famous for "Chomeiji Sakura Mochi" in Mukojima, Sumida-ku, Tokyo. This is because the temple called "Chomei-ji" near the store has a close relationship with the origin of Sakura Mochi.
In the Edo period, a man named Shinroku, who was the gatekeeper of Chomeiji, regretted the leaves falling from the cherry blossoms along the Sumida River and was wondering if it could be used for something. So when the leaves were salted and wrapped in mochi and sold, it became popular and the origin of "Sakura mochi."
Sakuramochi (Domyoji)
Many of the Sakura Mochi in Kansai are made of "Domyoji powder".
Domyoji powder is made by steaming glutinous rice once and then drying it into two to three pieces. It is made by steaming and coloring the red bean paste. Therefore, the characteristic feature is the crushed skin that retains the texture of rice.
Domyoji powder has a long history, and it is based on preserved food made at a temple called "Domyoji", a nunnery of Shingon sect in Osaka more than 1,000 years ago. Since it can be stored for a long period of time, it was also used as a general preserved food, and it was eaten with water or hot water.
Sakura youkan
It is made by kneading cherry-flavored powder and paste.
There is also an agar with salted cherry on top of the bean paste. It is a Japanese sweet that you can enjoy with your eyes because it looks beautiful.
Kusamochi
Kusamochi, which has a soft and smoky scent of mugwort, wasn't originally made from wormwood, but was originally made from auspicious grass, which was thought to dispel the evil of mother-infant grass at the time of Hinamaturi. However, the use of wormwood has become commonplace. Even if it is called wormwood, it is made from sprouts.
3 color Dango
Three-color dumplings are said to represent spring in three colors: pink, white, and green. Pink is cherry blossoms and spring, white is white sake.
It's a “white liquor” that is hard to hear, but white liquor is the liquor to be drunk on Hinatamaturi on March 3. There is a theory that the white color of white sake is also significant and represents the early spring when snow still remains, and the theory that it represents the white sky of warm spring. The third color, green, is said to represent sprouting green or wormwood.
Uguisumochi
Uguisu-mochi is a bean paste wrapped with Gyuhi and sprinkled with green soybean flour.Gyuhi is soft mochi.
Kinako, which is a roasted green soybean, is also called "Uguisu kinako", and has a greener color and a unique sweetness and aroma than ordinary Kinako. This Japanese sweets originated in Nara Prefecture.
Strawberry daifuku
Strawberry Daifuku is a Japanese sweet made by putting strawberries in Daifuku mochi.
Daifuku wraps anko in Gyuhi, but there are two types, one with strawberry inside and one with strawberry outside as shown in the photo. When you eat a bite, the strawberry juice overflows and the strawberry and anko Gyuhi in your mouth play a delicious harmony. Unfortunately, it's a Japanese sweet, so it doesn't last long. They’re sold at the Japanese confectionery section on the food floor of a department store in Japan, so if you find one, buy it and try it!
Sakura manjyu
Sakura manjyu has anko in a cherry-flavored bun.
It has a slight pinkish tinge, and some manju may be salted with cherry blossoms.
Not only the skin on the surface is cherry blossom flavored, but there is also a manju with anko and cherry blossoms inside.
Sakura jelly
Sakura jelly is a sakura-flavored jelly. It is a jelly that has the image of Japanese cherry blossoms.
There are cherry blossom motifs made with bean paste and jelly made with different ingredients, and various confectionery makers sell delicious sakura jelly.
Nerikiri
Nerikiri is one of the Japanese sweets.
This Japanese confectionery is made by adding ingredients such as sugar, yam and special flour to the white sweet bean paste. And, Nerikiri is a raw confectionery whose main ingredient is kneaded bean paste (white bean paste) that is prepared by adjusting the hardness and softness. This white sweet bean paste is a finely crafted confectionery that is used for festive occasions, tea parties, etc. by making delicate work that shapes the seasonal plants and traditions.
This Nerikiri is also sold at the Japanese confectionery section of the department store.
Kashiwamochi
Kashiwamochi is a traditional Japanese confectionery that has been popular since the Edo period on May 5th for children's day.
Many people will eat Sakuramochi on Hinamaturi on March 3, and Kashiwamochi on children's day on May 5. Each one is eaten in the hope that the children will grow. The leaf of Sakuramochi are salted, so you can eat them with Sakuramochi, but you can't eat the leaf of Kashiwamochi, so be careful.
TORAYA Monaka
In the extra edition, I will tell you about my favorite Japanese sweets. Monaka, made with the image of this Ume flower, is a Japanese confectionery company that sells Japanese traditional Japanese confectionery called TORAYA.
TORAYA's mainstream Japanese confectionery is Yokan, but Monaka also sells it. It’s a Japanese sweet that you want to eat once with its elegant sweetness. Yokan and Monaka can be eaten for a long time, so it’s recommended to buy them as a souvenir.
