Desserts You Should Try in Japan

When visiting Japan, I'll suggest you to try the following desserts:

It is a firm, slim pancakes, usually filled with sweet 'Azuki' red bean paste. 

A type of Japanese sweet dumpling made from rice flour (“Mochiko”).  It is served on a skewer with three to four per skewer and it is best to paired with green tea. A common way to eat Dango is with sweetened red bean paste.

Other types of Dango includes "Mitarashi" Dango which is covered with syrup made from soy sauce and sugar. 

"Chadango", a green tea flavor dango.

"Kibi" or "Kinako" Dango which is covered in slightly sweetened millet flour.

"Tsukimi" Dango is only being serve during full moon celebration (i.e. eat together with family while enjoying the full moon and also offered to the Gods as an offering).

Higashi are fine and fancy Japanese dessert. It contains no fresh ingredient and has a long shelf life. It can be served in formal ceremonies such as tea ceremony. They are usually small, colorful, aesthetically pleasing candies made with finely ground Japanese sugar or soybean flour.

Namagashi are traditional Japanese dessert. It contains fresh prepared sweet that is fancy  to present at tea ceremony. It is common for Namagashi and Higashi to be served together.

Imagawayaki are thick pancake-like dessert.  It is traditionally filled with Anko (red bean paste). Recent varieties of filling include fruit jams, vanilla custards, vegetables and meats, potato and curry.

Small balls of soft ice cream wrapped in ‘Mochigome’(or sweet rice dough) often topped with a dusting of corn starch or Mochiko to make it less sticky as it melt. Traditionally, it only served during Japanese New Year, but now many people eat it whenever they are craving for it.

Yokan is a thick gelatin-like dessert typically made with red bean or white bean paste, agar-agar, and sugar. You may add sweet potato, chopped chestnuts, fruits, matcha powder or green tea to it

It is a white mochi wrapped around a pink mochi. It is filled with white anko or sweet white miso, along with a candied gobo root that sticks out on the sides of the pastry. It represents a plum blossom wrapped around an Ayu fish, which have symbolic meaning for New Year's. It is usually eaten at the beginning of the year. 

It is a mochi flavored with red cherry blossoms, filled with red bean paste, and wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom leaf.

It is a Japanese confectionery steamed dessert made from 'Uruchi' rice or non-glutinous rice and sugar. It is chewy, similar to mochi, and subtly sweet. It served in seasonal colors using natural flavors such as sakura, matcha, kinako and anko. Also different ingredients includes black sugar, powdered green tea, sweet beans, salted cherry leaves, and chestnuts, delicately represent their original flavors.

It  is a Japanese confection that made with rice flour, sugar and soy sauce. It has several flavor and shape variations, most commonly walnuts or Japanese citrus (usually Yuzu peel), and can be round or square.

Yatshuhashi (八ツ橋 or 八橋) is made from glutinous rice flour, sugar and cinnamon. It is served either baked or raw. The baked version is crispy like a 'Senbei' (baked or grilled Japanese rice crackers). The raw versions are served as a dumpling with Anko in the middle.

Karukan(軽羹) is a steamed sweet bread that contains grated Japanese yam and is a specialty of Kyushu. Many cities and towns in the region have unique versions of Karukan that often include a sweet filling.

Sata Andagi is a type of round sugar donut from the Okinawan Islands. It means "deep fried sugar" in Okinawan language. It is hard and crispy on the outside and cake-like on the inside.

Monaka have a crispy outer shell and are filled with sweet ingredients like red bean paste, chestnut paste, mochi and ice cream. The outer shell is made with mochiko flour and has a texture similar to an ice cream cone. It is best to pair with tea. 

A transparent jelly made with Kuzu powder. It has little taste and is valued as a light summer dessert. It is usually covered in sweet powder, syrup or both.

It consists of small cubes agar-agar jelly, sweetened red bean paste and fresh fruit topped with a dark sweet syrup. It may consists of mochi and ice cream too. 

Traditionally, Manju is made up of flour, buckwheat, and rice powder filling with sweet red bean paste. It comes in a variety of flavors such as matcha (which will give it a green coloring), Mizu with a flavored bean filling and even cheese flavors. 

 Kanten is made from gelatin. It is usually added with different kinds of fruits to give it more flavors and typically served with a cup of Japanese tea. 

 Mochi without filling is put inside a bowl of red bean soup. It is usually served as a warm desserts which can warm you up whenever you feel cold. 

Taiyaki is a fish-shaped waffle which is quite popular in Japan. It can be filled with red bean paste, chocolate, custard, sweet potato, cheese and other flavors.

These are just some of the desserts in Japan. Please leave comments if you guys could think of more yummy desserts that we should give it a try. Thank you.^^

Will see you next time~ ByeBye~ (: