Japaneats その11 – 和菓子 (わがし - wagashi) - Japanese sweets

It may not be the first place you imagine when you think of desserts, but believe it or not Japan has a huge sweet tooth. Like most Japanese food, 和菓子 have evolved significantly over the years and they can now be enjoyed in a traditional, understated way with a cup of お茶 (おちゃ - ocha - green tea) or in vast quantities at a café or 食べ放題 (たべほうだい - tabehoudai - all you can eat) dessert restaurant. Let's have a look at some of the most common 和菓子 and see if we can kill that sugar craving.

Broadly speaking, 和菓子 are traditional sweets that use only Japanese ingredients. The most common of these are white or red 餡 (あん - an - bean paste), 餅 (もち - mochi - pounded rice cake)  and 抹茶 (まっちゃ - matcha - green tea powder). Having said that, even a lot of traditional 和菓子 have changed significantly with the modern palate and all of these ingredients are used just as enthusiastically to put Japanese twists on 洋菓子 (ようがし - yougashi - Western sweets) so the word is often used loosely. 和風 (わふう - wafuu) or "Japanese style" is a catch-all term that makes up the difference between 和菓子 and things adopted and modified, but let's not get too bogged down in the terminology - we have some eating to do.

Love it or hate it, 餡 is a key ingredient of many 和菓子. It can be prepared in several ways - the main varieties are 粒餡 (つぶあん - tsubu an), where the beans are just boiled whole with sugar; 潰し餡 (つぶしあん - tsubushi an), where the beans are mashed into a coarse paste with their skins on; and 漉し餡 (こしあん - koshi an), where the skins are removed to form a smooth paste. あんみつ (anmitsu) is one 和菓子 that can make use of any of these to varying effect. Its name straightforwardly refers to its main ingredients - "an" for bean paste and "mitsu" for honey or syrup, which is in most cases 黒蜜 (くろみつ - kuromitsu), a brown sugar syrup with a strong treacly taste. The other ingredients differ, but it usually contains fresh フルーツ (fruit) and sometimes アイスクリーム (ice cream) as well. 

餡 forms an integral part of あんぱん (anpan - sweet bean paste bread, made famous by the superhero "Anpanman"), たいやき (taiyaki - sweet grilled batter in the shape of a fish) and どら焼き (dorayaki - griddle cakes sandwiched together with filling). It's also one of the key ingredients in the kind of 和菓子 you might have with your お茶.

There are a variety of 和菓子 to be enjoyed at tea time - the example above is called 大福餅 (だいふくもち - daifuku mochi) which is 餡 with a thin layer of 餅 wrapped around the outside. The 餅 is chewy and stretchy which is an interesting contrast to the softness of the filling. 和菓子 served in this way tend to be sickly sweet on their own; you're supposed to cut off a small piece at a time with your little wooden pick between mouthfuls to balance the bitterness of the お茶.

まんじゅう (manjuu), like the もみじまんじゅう (momiji manjuu) famous in 広島 (ひろしま - Hiroshima) is similar but the outside is made with a mixture of different flours and steamed; it comes out much cakier than 大福餅. The modern variations further separate the two - まんじゅう can contain anything from チョコ (choko - chocolate) to クリームチーズ (cream cheese), while 大福餅 have been known to contain whole いちご (ichigo - strawberries) or even アイスクリーム.

Sharing a name but not the ingredients is what's called わらび餅 (warabi mochi), jelly-like starch dumplings dusted with きなこ (kinako - toasted soy flour) and drizzled with 黒蜜. It's closely related to 団子 (だんご - dango - 餅 dumplings) both in concept and texture, which is probably why it borrows the name. While some may find it an acquired taste, the きなこ gives it a lovely sesame-like flavour and you'll probably find yourself eating the whole bowl without really knowing why. Both 団子 and わらび餅 are popular 夏 (なつ - natsu - Summer) treats, particularly at festivals where they're easy to stab and eat on the go.

かき氷 (kakigoori) is another 夏 favourite - shaved ice drizzled with very sweet フルーツ syrup in a bowl or paper cup. If you want something a bit different from the usual tropical flavours, you can get 抹茶  syrup on top; rest assured that it's just as sweet as the others and bears only a passing resemblance to お茶. For the full Japanese experience you can also get some 餡 on the side but from my limited experience, sweetened condensed milk is a much more popular extra. I did say "huge sweet tooth".

If this all seems a bit healthy for you, パフェ (parfait) might be a good option. It's essentially a very fancy looking sundae with everything but the kitchen sink - mountains of フルーツ, クリーム (cream), アイスクリーム, チョコ, wafers and sometimes even cornflakes (which are a surprisingly nice addition). While it may be a stretch to consider any of this 和菓子, you do see the Japanese influence every now and again, particularly in 和風パフェ - 抹茶アイスクリーム, 団子 and 餡 are not uncommon. パフェ can range from single serve desserts to something four people would struggle with; I've seen entire slices of cake used as toppings before.

From there, we begin to cross the bridge from 和菓子 to 洋菓子 where Japan continues its love affair with all things sweet. European desserts are wildly popular countrywide - roll cakes, chiffon cakes, tarts and mille-feuille - all sliced into single pieces, lashed with cream and gorgeously presented. French patisserie and German baking techniques have been adopted with gusto and Japanese chefs continue to put their own spin on them, ever widening the scope of 和菓子. So whether you fancy a traditional sweet or a piece of 抹茶 chocolate cake, Japan has a dessert fork with your name on it.