Japan had some of the best food I had ever tasted in my life. Whether it was just a plain egg mayo sandwich or out-of-this-world sushi. So, I think it’s high time I wrote a blog post on my favourite food from Japan. This is a list that could go on forever, so I decided to limit it to my top five Japanese desserts (or sweet treats).
I have to apologise in advance, because for some reason I didn’t take a photo of all the food I ate (crazy I know, who doesn’t photograph their each and every meal). So, if there’s no photo, then I replaced it with a worthy GIF to make up for my mistake.
My Top Five
The Crepe
This thing tastes as good as it looks. They basically just took all the sweet things in life and packed it into this beautiful crepe.
Best place for a variety (but be prepared for crowds and long lines): Takeshita Street. We ended up ordering a crepe each. It was huge, super sweet and a bit messy. Definitely more than we bargained for. We still finished it though (you can’t leave behind such goodness – not even for leftovers).
via GIPHY
TAIYAKI CAKE
I am in love with this. They come with different fillings. I tried the red bean paste, custard and sweet potato filling. My favourite is still the custard. I am determined to perfect the recipe here in South Africa. If I can’t, then I’ll just have to move to Japan.
You can buy this in any convenience store, but the best is probably to buy them fresh from a street vendor or café.
I’m a serious eater
ICE-CREAM
Most of you will probably argue that ice-cream is everywhere. It’s not that Japan’s ice-cream is so much better than other ice-cream, but it’s that they offer quite the variety. Also, it is some of the best ice-cream I’ve tasted. Whether you are buying at a café, street vendor or convenience store you are sure to have choices.
The strangest (but still super great) flavours I tasted were the pumpkin, and sesame seed ice-cream in Aomori’s A-Factory (a super trendy spot with a lot of great treats). We also had melon ice-cream in Tokyo. This was my favourite.
Sesame and pumpkin
Me, already sad that my ice-cream is nearly finished. Also, this is how I ALWAYS look when I eat.
MILK AGAR WITH MANDARIN & COFFEE JELLY
I grouped these two together, because they are both a kind of jelly (and I couldn’t really single out which one I prefer).
The coffee jelly I bought at the convenience store (we lived off a tight budget okay), and I can’t remember the product’s name, but I know it was coffee jelly chunks in some sort of creamy liquid.The fact that I’m not sure about the ingredients may sound a bit weird, but I promise you that it is really good. Especially for summers.
The milk agar with mandarin orange is also a product that I bought at the convenience store and I can’t remember the product name. I do, however, know that it is made with milk agar and had pieces of mandarin in it. This was my ultimate favourite, especially on the humid days. It’s a type of sweet milky jelly with orange chunks in it. Have a look on Sake & More for images and the recipe.
I bought it by accident one day when I thought it was yogurt (which isn’t as common in Japan as it is in South Africa). It was a pleasant mistake though, because I pretty much bought it every morning for breakfast. Who said you can’t eat dessert for breakfast?
via Imgur
BUTTERBEER
Yep, it’s true. I tasted butterbeer and it tasted as beautiful as I imagined. We visited Hogwarts at Universal Studios in Osaka. My husband had a cold butterbeer, and I had the warm one. Both are extremely sweet, so I’d suggest sharing (and not to drink this before going on any rides).
Pure bliss.
Have you ever been to Japan? What’s your favourite treats?
