Japanese Sweets

One of my new Japanese friends has been dying to take me to try "Japanese sweets" since the first time she met me... today was finally the day! Now when I think "sweets", I think desserts like cake or pie or a sundae, but once again things are little different in Japan!

Before we get to the food, here is a pic of a huge flower arrangement for the New Year inside the mall on the way to the sweets shop. Sadly, most New Year decorations and flower arrangements were removed yesterday or today because they only celebrate the New Year until January 7th.

First sweet was this glass of goodies. From the bottom: red beans, green tea paste, ice cream, peach, and some blocks of chewy green tea paste.

This isn't a sweet, but I took a pic any way. One lady didn't want sweets, but instead ordered shrimp with soy sauce wrapped in seaweed. The kicker for me was that these were so small, like 2 inches long and 1 inch wide!

Next is cold green tea mixed with red beans and topped with a scoop of ice cream. Seeing a theme? They really think red beans are sweet and are a dessert. I tried them and am not a fan, certainly not as a dessert. A few people got to try some Japanese snacks I brought home at Christmas. One was green marshmallows with brown paste inside (yuck!). As it turns out, I was feeding people green tea flavored marshmallows with (you guessed it) red bean paste!!

Next sweet choice is mostly fruits: strawberry, kiwi, peach, apple, lemon, and orange on a bed of what looks like clear Jell-O cubes served with a scoop of ice cream. As it turns out, the Jell-O cubes really have no taste (kind of like pure gelatin), but are actually very healthy and made from seaweed of all things!! You are supposed to eat a bite of that with something else to provide the flavor.

Finally, my "sweet" choice. Very similar to the fruit & gelatin bowl above, but I also have a scoop of ice cream surrounded by 3 globs of chestnut paste and a chestnut. The chestnut paste was a little over the top for me. It was quite rich, and I didn't need 3 helpings of it. I thought the chestnut was just garnish, but no. At the end of the meal, they asked me to eat it, so I did!

So to everyone who has ever tried to serve me fruit as dessert in the States (while I give them a dirty look and run to the freezer for a popsicle or ice cream bar), you would really love it in Japan!!!

Meanwhile, I will continue my hunt for the the rumored "cake buffets" over here... my goal is to find one to take Mom to when she visits me in April :)