Wagashi

Not to be confused with Wagasi, the Beninese cheese.

Wagashi

Hotaru (firefly) wagashi
Origin
Place of origin	Japan
Type	Confectionery

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A selection of wagashi to be served during a Japanese tea ceremony

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A plate of six wagashi

Wagashi served with matcha tea

Wagashi (和菓子, wa-gashi) are traditional Japanese confections that are often served with tea, especially the types made of mochi, anko (azuki bean paste), and fruits. Wagashi are typically made from plant ingredients.

History

In Japan the word for sweets, kashi (菓子), originally referred to fruits and nuts. China learned from India how to produce sugar and began trading it to Japan. The trade increased and sugar became a common seasoning by the end of the Muromachi period. Influenced by the introduction of tea and China's confectionery and dim sum, the creation of wagashi took off during the Edo period in Japan.

Types

See also: List of Japanese desserts and sweets § Wagashi

• Anmitsu: chilled gelatinous cubes (kanten) with fruit
• Amanattō: simmered azuki beans or other beans with sugar, and dried - amanattō and nattō are not related, although the names are similar.
• Botamochi: a sweet rice ball wrapped with anko (or an, thick azuki bean paste)
• Daifuku: general term for mochi (pounded sweet rice) stuffed with anko
• Dango: a small, sticky, sweet mochi, commonly skewered on a stick
• Dorayaki: a round, flat sweet consisting of castella wrapped around anko
• Hanabiramochi: a flat, red and white, sweet mochi wrapped around anko and a strip of candied gobo (burdock)
• Ikinari dango: a steamed bun with a chunk of sweet potato and anko in the center, it is a local confectionery in Kumamoto.
• Imagawayaki (also kaitenyaki): anko surrounded in a disc of fried dough covering
• Kusa mochi: "grass" mochi, a sweet mochi infused with Japanese mugwort (yomogi), surrounding a center of anko
• Kuzumochi
• Kuri kinton: a sweetened mixture of boiled and mashed chestnuts
• Manjū: steamed cakes of an surrounded by a flour mixture, available in many shapes such as peaches, rabbits, and matsutake (松茸) mushrooms
• Mochi: a rice cake made of glutinous rice
• Monaka: a center of anko sandwiched between two delicate and crispy sweet rice crackers
• Oshiruko (also zenzai): a hot dessert made from anko in a liquid, soup form, with small mochi floating in it
• Rakugan: a small, very solid and sweet cake which is made of rice flour and mizuame
• Sakuramochi: a rice cake filled with anko and wrapped in a pickled cherry leaf
• Taiyaki: like a kaitenyaki, a core of anko surrounded by a fried dough covering, but shaped like a fish
• Uirō: a steamed cake made of rice flour and sugar, similar to mochi
• Warabimochi: traditionally made from warabi and served with kinako and kuromitsu
• Yatsuhashi: thin sheets of gyūhi (sweetened mochi), available in different flavors, like cinnamon, and occasionally folded in a triangle around a ball of red anko
• Yōkan: one of the oldest wagashi, a solid block of anko, hardened with agar and additional sugar
• Akumaki: one of the confections of Kagoshima Prefecture

Classification

Wagashi are classified according to the production method and moisture content. Moisture content is very important, since it affects shelf life.

• Namagashi (生菓子) (wet confectionery)—contains 30% or more moisture
  • Jō namagashi (上生菓子) is a very soft and delicate, seasonally varying namagashi, in various, often elaborate, shapes and colors, often reflecting seasonal plants. Some stores will have many dozens over the course of a year.
  • Mochi mono (もち物)
  • Mushi mono (蒸し物)
  • Yaki mono (焼き物)
    • Hiranabe mono (平なべ物)
    • Ōbun mono (オーブン物)
  • Nagashi mono (流し物)
  • Neri mono (練り物)
  • Age mono (揚げ物)
• Han namagashi (半生菓子) (half-wet confectionery)—contains 10%–30% moisture
  • An mono (あん物)
  • Oka mono (おか物)
  • Yaki mono (焼き物)
    • Hiranabe mono (平なべ物)
    • Ōbun mono (オーブン物)
  • Nagashi mono (流し物)
  • Neri mono (練り物)
• Higashi (干菓子) (dry confectionery)—contains 10% or less moisture
  • Uchi mono (打ち物)
  • Oshi mono (押し物)
  • Kake mono (掛け物)
  • Yaki mono (焼き物)
  • Ame mono (あめ物)

See also

• List of Japanese desserts and sweets
• List of Japanese snacks

External links

• Japan Wagashi Association (Japanese)