Japanese sweets

[Tea Guy]

I was just thinking....I need to eat something sweet. I haven't made any sweets in so long. I can't make manjuu at the moment because I don't have a steamer right now....I don't feel like making any kind of youkan. Maybe I'll fix ohagi.

Well, my thoughts brought the question to mind of what Japanese sweets anyone here has tried and your thoughts on them, positive or negative.
After all, some people really enjoy them while others can't get beyond the idea of "sweetened bean paste".

Any thoughts?


C.Sieg

[Ye Olde corpse]

I have myself never cooked any japanese sweets. Does anyone have any recepie they want to share, or a link to some recipies??

[bruceb]

You don't keep a box of pocky or chocky on hand? Yum!

[burp]

Howdy!

For this time of year Oshiruko is wonderful. I prefer it to hot chocolate. Has a richness all its own.

I occassionally make mizu yokan which I find delicious.

My wife has a recipe for dora yaki, but hasn't ever made it. Everytime she visits her family in Japan she brings it back fresh. It gets devoured in no time.

Karinto is probably easy to make, but a local Japanese market would have it. I eat the kurosato flavor all the time. Love the molasses'y' flavor.

Enjoy!

mikehansen

[Tea Guy]

Hm...oshiruko does sound good right now...Indeed,it is better than hot chocolate (even my own "special recipe" hot chocolate). I can't get enough of the taste of azuki.
As for mizu youkan, I usually only fix that when it's hot outside, but it's certainly delicious. It tends to disappear too quickly when I'm around it though. :D
I haven't made dorayaki in quite some time. I used to make it more often, but I prefer to make manjuu rather than dorayaki. I've still got to find more manjuu recipes though. I think I've got 3 or so. I really liked the kokutou/kurosatou manjuu I had been eating a while back, but I don't have a recipe for that.
Of course, I don't think anything is complete without tea (I mean, just look at my user name). It is truly wonderful how tea goes so well with Japanese sweets. The slight grassy bitterness of the tea balances the sweetness of the sweets. Despite the hard work and time that goes into making everything, I enjoy the rewards.

C.Sieg