Japanese Dessert?

BrightHeart76 · May 03, 2008, 05:15:56 PM

Hi Everyone,

Two days before Fanime my school has a Multi Cultural Night. It's a lot of fun and the kids really enjoy it.

I am in charge of Japan for Multi Cultural Night. I pull up a bunch of Japanese Web Sites with history and general knowledge information on the computers, bring in some kid safe manga, have some displays with Hiragana and Katakana, play some JPop etc...nothing too exciting or indepth, but enough to give the kids some gateway information to the culture incase they decide that they want to learn more on their own.

I have been asked to provide a Japanesse Dessert this year. The thing is, I admit that I've never had a Japanese Dessert. Is there anything I can make that is distinctly Japanesse? I'm completely at a loss. HELP PLEASE!!!

Sunara Ishi · May 03, 2008, 05:30:59 PM

Tempura icecream? I dunno.
Ice cream mochi?

All references I normally see to deserts are somehow otherly based... >.>;

JohnnyAR · May 03, 2008, 06:25:20 PM

Quote from: Sunara Ishi on May 03, 2008, 05:30:59 PM
Tempura icecream? I dunno.
Ice cream mochi?

All references I normally see to deserts are somehow otherly based... >.>;

I was gonna suggest that XD

I saw this pisture one called a Bunny Wabbit cake, look it up

BTW Which school is it?

Kazuko · May 03, 2008, 08:21:13 PM

There are many types like mochi, anpan, wagashi, sweet rice cakes. Just do a bit of reserching online and you will be suprised with the results. I made kushidango once :d it was alright

Rei-Rei · May 03, 2008, 08:36:33 PM

There are a lot of Japanese desserts that I could recommend, but I don't know if they'll be to the kids liking.
Ice Cream Mochi would be good, apart from the fact it isn't really Japanese, and it might be a bit hard if you don't have a freezer or something to keep it frozen.
I would recommend Bean Paste Mochi, but in the past when I introduced Japanese desserts to people who don't usually eat Japanese, they didn't like it.
Go here to find out more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Japanese_dishes#Sweets_and_snacks_.28okashi_.28.E3.81.8A.E3.81.8B.E3.81.97.29.2C_oyatsu_.28.E3.81.8A.E3.82.84.E3.81.A4.29.29

BrightHeart76 · May 04, 2008, 09:09:56 AM

Thank you for the link to the Wiki page. I had been researching recipes but kept coming up with a lot of recipes that I suspected were not really Japanese. I'm amazed that a lot of people seem to think that if you add green tea to cake mix it's suddenly a Japanese Dessert.

I could do Mochi. Heck the Korean store across the street carries premade Mochi, I was just hoping to make something myself that the staff and students would enjoy. But lets be honest, they're elementary kids...anything outside of hamburgers and hotdogs is "icky" and they hate it before they try it. So whatever I bring, it'll mostly be for the adults. :)

Rei-Rei · May 04, 2008, 09:13:22 AM

Quote from: BrightHeart76 on May 04, 2008, 09:09:56 AM
But lets be honest, they're elementary kids...anything outside of hamburgers and hotdogs is "icky" and they hate it before they try it. So whatever I bring, it'll mostly be for the adults. :)

Yeah, I kinda figured that too. I don't think the kids (or some adults) would like anything with green tea in it.

I'd hate to go a bit mainstream.......
But kids?
Pocky. Or just go to your local Japanese/Korean markets and ask for help. ^^

BrightHeart76 · May 04, 2008, 09:32:06 AM

LOL. I thought about the Pocky. Figured I'd get a few different flavors and then display it so it looks nice. Maybe I'll do Mochi AND Pocky...really confuse everyone.

PyronIkari · May 04, 2008, 10:50:03 AM

Pocky isn't Japanese...

And Mochi varies quite a lot. If you're just going to be lazy, buy a bunch of mochi ice cream, but that's not really "Japanese". It's about as Japanese as California Rolls. Or even more lazy and just buy Green tea ice cream...

Real Japanese desserts? Anpan isn't really a desert, but it can be eaten as one.

Dango... Spring right now. I think bocchan is what you're supposed to serve.
Taiyaki... HA, good luck trying to make taiyaki correctly
Manju
Senbei... mmm... senbei... that actually sounds good right now.

Most Japanese deserts aren't very sweet, and all the ones that are... usually involve red bean in some way. Almost all of the more known/popular ones are based off of western deserts(Ice cream, crepes, cakes and the such). The more traditional deserts actually take a lot of effort to make, and usually turn out really really badly if you don't know how to correctly make them.

Rei-Rei · May 04, 2008, 07:01:38 PM

Quote from: PyronIkari on May 04, 2008, 10:50:03 AM
Most Japanese deserts aren't very sweet, and all the ones that are... usually involve red bean in some way. Almost all of the more known/popular ones are based off of western deserts(Ice cream, crepes, cakes and the such). The more traditional deserts actually take a lot of effort to make, and usually turn out really really badly if you don't know how to correctly make them.

Pounding rice for a couple of hours..... >.>; Just to make mochi... Lol, my attempt to make the mochi was just so epic.
It failed miserably.

But anyways, I would say as of right now. Buy some daifuku.
Then again, not everyone likes red bean paste inside mochi.

BrightHeart76 · May 04, 2008, 08:01:13 PM

Actually I'm leaning toward Dango. I've always wanted to try it and the recipe looks like something I could do. My only fear is that it'll be too loose and not hold it's shape. I've seen a lot of pictures of dango that looks like goo on a stick, I'm looking for ideas and tips to avoid that.

We have a Phillipine bakery in town. I think I'll call them tomorrow. I know it's completely different, but there area a lot of rice dishes in the Phillipine diet. I'm hoping they may be willing to try Dango. When all is said and done I think it would be cheaper if they can make it, than if I had to buy all of the ingredients and the steamer (I lost mine in the move). Not to mention they should probably be able to make the dango's taste better taste better.

Jun-Watarase · May 12, 2008, 08:13:47 PM

Japanese desserts are traditionally lacking in sweetness because sugar was expensive and saved for special occasions. I like red-bean desserts because it tastes nostalgic (meaning, I didn't really like them as a kid. XD) and my uncle and I had made ohagi during the spring.

Personally, in terms of summer desserts, I like the Japanese desserts that were adopted from Chinese cuisine, like shiratama and almond tofu. Dango seems like a good idea, but also kind of boring. Everything else that I like is pretty much jelly or fruit-based and while considered 'traditional', it doesn't 'feel Asian'. And after that, the rest is based off Western desserts, only in different taste.