Karintou Manju

Manju is the generic name for a kind of traditional Japanese sweet. Manju is usually made with a sweet red or white bean paste, covered in a rice powder or breaded covering. Manju comes in an infinite variety of shapes and tastes. This particular one is karintou manju. Karintou is the name of a different crunchy, breaded sweet and this manju has a similar taste. It took me a while to get to like manju. For westerners, it's not very sweet and the texture is  little strange, but I love it now. This was a real good one.

Mochi with Penut Butter

One of Japan's most traditional foods is mochi (omochi), pounded rice cakes made from mochigome, the extremely sticky, gluttenous rice. This is an especial favorite for new years, but can be ejoyed year round. Mochi is a thick, heavy, chewy food. It doesn't have a lot of taste by itself, but is served in a variety of ways, in soups, or often toasted and dipped in a sugar and soy sauce mixture. But my favorite way to enjoy mochi is my American fusion, toasted mochi with peanut butter. It's a perfect match, the sweet peanut butter and the thick, satisfying mochi. Every Japanese I tell this to just to just drops their jaw in disbelief. They can't imagine. I never heard the expression "too sweet", till I came to Japan, but don't knock it till you try it.

Ohagi or Bota-Mochi

This is a traditional sweet in Japan called ohagi or in this area, bota-mochi. It's made with sticky mochi rice or mochigome. The rice is pounded, but not completely as in proper omochi rice cakes. The outside is covered in anko, a sweet bean paste. I believe this is a homemade variety. There are many traditional sweets made with a red bean paste. I never knew beans could be a sweet until I came to Japan. Bota-mochi taste good. They are pretty sweet and thick and chewy. It's also said that eating bota-mochi will help a mother produce breastmilk. Eat up mommy!