Easy-to-make Japanese Desserts
Japanese desserts are popular for their mouth-watering taste and nutritious value. Japanese sweets are known as wagashi, which includes numerous categories, such as Yokan and Kanten (jellies), Namagashi (seasonal cakes), Higashi (dried, hard-packed sweets) and Manju (filled steamed dough items such as daifuku). Some of the common ingredients used for making wagashi are azuki (red beans), rice flour and sugar. They rarely use milk and butter in wagashi. Anko is a typical ingredient used to make the Japanese desserts and it is used as a filling for dorayaki (pancakes with anko filling), manju (steamed cake), etc. A nice combination of sweeteners, spices, and an array of beautiful colors is used to make the Japanese desserts.
Daigaku Imo with Honey (Fried sweet potato with honey)
Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes
1 tbsp honey
Oil, for frying
1 tsp of black sesame seeds
Preparation
Clean sweet potatoes with water. Cut them into bite-sized chunks with keeping the skin on. Clean the chunks again and wipe off excess water. Slowly deep-fry the potatoes in a skillet over a low heat, until they turn slightly golden. Mix fried sweet potatoes with honey in a bowl. Sprinkle black sesame in the potatoes and serve it hot or cold.
Green Tea Chocolate Ball Recipe
Ingredients
2 tsp milk
lb white chocolate, finely chopped
1 tbsp milk
cup heavy cream
Green tea powder for coating
Preparation
Put finely chopped white chocolate in a medium bowl. Put 2 tsp of green tea powder in a small bowl. Warm the milk in microwave oven and pour it over the green tea powder. Place the heavy cream in a small pan and heat it over a medium heat. Don't allow the cream to boil. Add it into the milk and green tea powder mixture. Pour it over the white chocolate and stir it well until the chocolate melts. Cool this chocolate mixture for about one hour at room temperature. Scoop the chocolate mixture into about 1 inch balls and place them on an aluminum foil. Keep them in the refrigerator for about an hour for cooling. Coat the chocolate balls with a green tea powder. Cool these green tea chocolate balls, until they become firm.
Dora-yaki (red bean pancakes)
These small pancakes are very popular in Japan. They consist of all types of fillings. A filling made from the azuki beans is the most traditional.
Ingredients
2 cups white flour
1 egg white, beaten until fluffy
4 tsp sugar
Six-ounce can of azuki beans
1 cup water
Vegetable oil
Preparation
Make a mixture of flour and sugar in a bowl and add water to make a batter. Then add the egg white. Add some vegetable oil in a heated nonstick frying pan. Drop 2 tablespoons of batter on the pan and allow it to spread by itself. Wait till tiny bubbles appear in the pancake. When the bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake, flip it and fry the uncooked side for about 30 seconds. Then remove it. Make pancakes from all the batter. Mash the azuki beans and mix with sugar to form a thick sweet paste. Spread this paste on the pancake and place a topping of another pancake over it. Dora-yaki should be served at room temperature.
Okinawan Sweet Fritters
Ingredients
cup evaporated milk
1 large egg
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
6 cup peanut oil or vegetable oil
1/3 cup light brown sugar
tsp ground cinnamon
cup sugar (optional)
1/3 cup chunky or smooth Japanese bean paste
Preparation
Mix egg and milk in a small bowl. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Add milk and egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir, until it mixes well. Then add bean paste. In a shallow pan, heat the oil to 350 F. Drop tablespoonful of batter into the heated oil. Fry the fritters for about 3-5 minutes, until they turn to brown. Cut open one fritter and roll the hot fritters in sugar. You can also serve it plain.
Woosh! These desserts are surely mouth-watering to even talk about. Here's wishing you all the best. Hope they turn out well!
