Top 6 “Wagashi” Japanese Dessert to Try in Japan!

When you travel to Japan, food hunting is one of the must-do activities in your itinerary. Japanese food is so yummy and also cheaper compared to Japanese food in our home country. May be due to the ingredients and other factors, the price cost more in our country and may not get the best freshness.

“Wagashi” is Japanese desserts and below are the top lists to try when you visit Japan.

1.Dango

This is not my favorite as it is hard to find a shop that sells very good Dango.  However, you will see Dango in the stick almost everywhere in Japan.  You can also find it in the supermarket, convenient stalls or even tea houses in the Japanese gardens.  The Dango is made from rice flour and the texture tastes different from Mochi.  If you are an anime lover, you will be familiar with this scene – Japanese in kimono holding a Dango during festivals or cherry blossom season.

2. Dango on Fire 

There are 3 flavors, the original is white color, pink is sakura flavor and the green is yomogi (mugwort) grass flavor. “Anko paste”/red bean paste are added on top before serving.  You will find this in most of the ancient attraction sites such as Japanese old gardens or shrines.

The Dango sticks are placed on the fire so it will be served hot or warm when you ordered.  Great for colder seasons.

As for the toppings, you can ask to have anko paste or other flavors that are available.  But anko or red bean paste is one of the popular paste in Japan.

3. Mouthwatering Abekawa Kinako Mochi

This is one of the must-have whenever I visit Japan, I usually go to 7 Eleven, Lawson or Family Mart to find Abekawa Kinako Mochi. It is soft and the texture is like silk and it melts in your mouth. Abekawa Kinako Mochi is usually eaten with a “kuromitsu” syrup, brownish sauce.

4. Coffee Jelly

Coffee Jelly in Japan tasted super good, it’s basically gelatin that’s been made with the best flavor in the world. It is one of the popular desserts in Japan. You may also find this dessert in the breakfast spread buffet in most hotels.  This may not be traditional in Japan but the taste is so good and is really better than the one we have back home.

5. Daifuku

Daifuku is also a type of mochi which stuffed with sweet filling, can have various type of filling but most common one would be “anko”/red bean.

6. Manju

Manju is different from mochi as mochi is made from pounded rice cake while Manju is made of rice powder, flour, and buckwheat flour. The filling is usually anko or red bean paste but nowadays there are more variety of fillings available such as cream, strawberry, cheese and many more.