5 Wagashi Sweets That Will Make You-Wa-nt Japanese Confectionery Nummies

Have you ever wondered what that those nummie-looking Japanese treats were the last time you went window shopping. It turns out they are called wa-gashi in Japanese. Wagashi, wa-!?

What is wagashi?

Wa-gashi (otherwise known as Japanese confectionery sweets) is a type of sweet commonly served with tea in Japan that makes very good used of available ingredients such as mochi, azuki beans, and perila leaves. Like most elements of Japanese culture such as drinking tea, it is very-much considered an art. That is on top of how good it tastes, appearance matters. It also can be thought as a part of Japanese culture that separates "Wa" sweets from "You" sweets. This is Wagashi. That is okashi.

dango missles

#1 Dango

Dango is a type of wagashi that is made up of little balls (between 3 and 4) made with mochiko (glutinous rice flour) pierced with a stick. Distinctions between types of dango like an-dango covered red bean paste and mitarashi dongo covered in syrup are made by what it is covered in.

One dango to rule them all. Another to find them. And another to bring them all and in the sweetness bind them

There are as many types of dango as you can think of different ways to eat rice balls on a stick. However, here are 4 that will help you get by just fine without leaving any out.

mitarashi dango

Mitarashi-dango

Mitarashi (also called shoyu "soy sauce") dango is eating with a syrup like coating. It is one of the most common ways to eat dango.

Here places to find more info about mitarashi dango.

• Nutrition Facts for Mitarashi Dango

An-dango

Another favorite is to eat it coated with red bean paste. If you are one of those people that like eating azuki bean paste, eating dangos this way helps you get more complex carbs into your body.

Goma-dango

My favorite are dango coated with goma spread, which is a tar-black sweet spreading for dango made with sesame seeds.

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kinako dango

Kinako-dango

Kinako with sugar. Actually, it is more elaborate than that. These dangos are topped with a sweet paste based on kinako powder.

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yaki-dango

Other dango

Like I said, there are as many ways to eat dango as there are to shake a dango stick. Cook it on a grill. Make each ball have its own color. All and all, these are the other types of dango that you will only see on occasion.

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daifuku

#2 Daifuku

Mochi daifuku by for is the most commonly found form of wagashi there is. Although the custom of making mochi is limited to the Japanese new year by tradition, daifuku is eaten year round. The most common filling for daifuku is as you would have guess red bean paste.

#3 Yokan

Yokan is a hard-jelly sweet made from agar (otherwise known as kanten powder). Like other Japanese sweets, it comes in an uncountable but finite number of flavors. To boost, green tea and azuki been flavored yokan are quest common.

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manju

#4 Manju

The fact that manju originates from China demonstrates that whenever "you" bring something into Japan, it comes out a little more "wa" than it had before. That is, despite the origin of this sweet, manju is indisputably a wagashi holding a large foothold on the Japanese sweet-tooth. By the way, it comes in green tea flavor.

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dorayaki

#5 Dorayaki

At first glance, dorayaki looks like pancakes but only smaller. One thing I should tell you before you pour on the syrup, there are filled with red bean paste. Yes, dorayaki is the less-salty type of Japanese pancakes. Like other form of wagashi, it makes an excellent souvenir when returning from Japan. Be sure to leave a note in the box. "These are not just pancakes." "They're magic pancakes."―hopefully, you get my point.

image credit
dango missiles skyseeker mitarashi dango charles applebottom kinakodango yoppy yaki-dango _ daifuku fofie57 manju jetalone dorayaki emrank

Wagashi treats are lower in fat despite the size

Types of sweet | Calories (Cal) | Fat (g)

Donuts | (60 g / piece) 232.0 | 12.24

Daifuku | (50 g / piece) 117.5 | 0.25

source Slism

Are you trying to cut back on your calories?―Okay maybe you are not, but have you ever thought about which sweats you could get away with eating without having to lie about what you just ate. Wagashi sweets are without a doubt in my mind a guilt-free food.

Wa, why!?

They are all low in calories and contain very low calories from fat because of the way they are made.

Unlike fatty donuts and maple bars, wagashi sweats require close to zero baking time that eliminates adding oil and butter to keep it from sticking to the pan.

Just keep that in mind when you want to eat sweets and cut back on calories.

Wa. Wa. Wa.