Although we have already become accustomed to many Japanese dishescuisine, cooking The Land of the Rising Sun still remains exotic for us. What are the recipes for Japanese desserts worth alone! But meanwhile, desserts as such were absent from traditional Japanese cuisine for a long time. The Japanese developed a love for them after becoming acquainted with European culture. And before that, they got along just fine with fresh fruits, dried fruits and nuts. And modern Japanese desserts are very different from the sweets we are used to. Conservative Japanese, having adopted the fashion for unhealthy (from their point of view) dishes, managed to adapt them to their own culinary traditions and taste preferences. In Japanese desserts, you will not find the usual cream, chocolate or custard. Fruit pastes, marmalade, jelly, jams, caramel - this is what is mainly included in Japanese sweets. And, of course, fruits and nuts. It is quite difficult to buy traditional Japanese delicacies (these are not sushi and rolls!), but you want to try them. That's why many dare to experiment with cooking and make such desserts themselves. Well, it's a commendable thing. And if you want to take part in such an experiment, here are some recipes.
Ice cream "Matcha aisukurimu"
Unconventional, but quite common: ice cream is ice cream in Japan too. To prepare this Japanese dessert, we will need the following ingredients:
- Fresh milk (2 cups)
- Condensed milk (jar)
- Cream for whipping (glass)
- Dry green tea (4 tsp)
- Sugar (one third glass)
Preparation: Grind the tea into powder.Boil milk, dissolve sugar in it and add tea. Let the sweet tea brewed in milk steep for twenty minutes. Add condensed milk and cream to the cooled tea, beat well (with a mixer or in a blender) and freeze. After three hours, take it out of the freezer and taste the traditional Japanese dessert. Note: The cream should be at least 34% fat, the amount of sugar can be reduced or increased.
Cakes "Tyakin sibori"
Frankly, this is a shocking recipe! Pea cakes? Only the Japanese could come up with something like this. Will we dare to try this version of a Japanese dessert? Ingredients:
- 6 eggs
- 3-4 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 cup of fresh or frozen green peas
Preparation:The cake will be yellow and green (as expected): from an egg and pea mixture. For the first, hard-boil the eggs, remove the yolks and rub them through a sieve. Pour into a bowl, mash and mix with some of the sugar. For the second mixture, boil the peas for about fifteen minutes until soft, drain the water and mash (but not into a puree!). Add the remaining sugar and cook the sweet green paste until all the moisture has evaporated. Cool. Divide both mixtures into six or seven equal parts and start making the cakes. Take a thin cotton napkin or gauze, wet it and wring it out. Lay the napkin on the table, put one portion of the green paste on it, and a portion of the yellow one on top. Lift the corners of the napkin up and twist it tightly. So we will combine both portions of paste into one ball and leave an intricate pattern on the cake from the folds of the fabric. We do the rest of the cakes in the same way. Cool. Let's try this version of the Japanese dessert. Note: Instead of a napkin or gauze, it is convenient to use a regular handkerchief.
Mandarin dessert "Kinkan-no canoni"
You can't surprise us with such a Japanese dessert. And yet it is quite unusual: tangerines in syrup, and with vodka! Ingredients:
- Mandarins (1 kg)
- Sugar (one and a half cups)
- Water (incomplete glass)
- Vodka (one and a half teaspoons)
Preparation:Take small, firm tangerines, peel them, put them in a saucepan and fill them with cold water. Add vodka, put on high heat and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and cook (simmer) the tangerines for about fifteen minutes. Remove from the saucepan, let them cool and dry. While the tangerines are cooling, prepare the syrup. Add sugar and an incomplete glass of water to the same water in which the tangerines were boiled. Cook the syrup (stirring constantly): bring to a boil and boil for a couple of minutes. Lower the tangerines into the syrup and boil them for another ten minutes. Remove the finished dessert from the syrup, let them dry and cool. Put in the refrigerator. Enjoy chilled.
Rice sweets "Moti"
Making this Japanese dessert will be more difficult than the previous options. But if we have firmly decided to master the intricacies of Japanese sweets, then we cannot do without mochi. Ingredients:
- Round glutinous rice (glass)
- Sugar powder (3 tablespoons)
- Water (half glass)
- Chocolate (tiles)
- Rose petals
Preparation:Rinse the rice and soak it overnight. In the morning, rinse the rice again, wrap it in a thick cotton napkin and steam it for forty minutes. After that, grind the rice in a mortar or chop it in a blender. And then comes the most tedious part. Stir in the rice until you get a strong, dense mass. Continue kneading this rice dough, gradually adding powdered sugar to it. As soon as the rice mass stops sticking to your hands, it is ready. For the filling, melt the chocolate in a water bath. Form the candies. Pinch off a piece of dough and knead it into a flat cake. Put a little chocolate in the middle of the rice cake and carefully pinch the dough on top. Level it out, giving it the shape of a ball. Serve the finished candies, placing each one on a pink petal. Note: You can use fresh strawberries, grapes or yogurt soufflé as a filling. Well, aren't you scared of traditional Japanese desserts? The recipes aren't too exotic? Then – let's get to work! We recommend reading:
