Wagashi

Not to be confused with Wagasi, the Beninese cheese.

Wagashi

Hotaru (firefly) wagashi
Type	Confectionery
Place of origin	Japan
Media: Wagashi

Wagashi (和菓子, wa-gashi) is a traditional Japanese confection that is often served with green tea, especially the type made of mochi, anko (azuki bean paste), and fruit. Wagashi is typically made from plant-based ingredients with an emphasis on seasonality, and generally making use of cooking methods that pre-date Western influence in Japan.

Most of today's wagashi were born during the Edo period (1603-1868). This was a period of peace, economic and cultural prosperity, and increased domestic self-sufficiency in sugar. During the Edo period, a series of delicate and beautiful fresh wagashi called nerikisiri (練り切り) were created with various shapes and colors that characterize wagashi. Nerikiri are wagashi made by kneading white bean paste, sugar, yam, and other ingredients into a variety of colors and shapes that evoke the seasons.

Definition

A bowl of matcha tea on a black lacquered tray with wagashi

In Japan, the word for sweets or confectionery, kashi (菓子), originally referred to fruits and nuts. Fruits and nuts may be eaten as snacks between meals and served as "sweets" during a tea ceremony. The word Wa means "Japanese", and kashi becomes gashi in compound words, wagashi therefore means "Japanese confectionery".

In 1603, the first year of the Edo period (1603-1868), kashi (菓子) still referred to fruit, and the Japanese-Portuguese dictionary of the time describes "quaxi" (菓子) as "fruit, especially fruit eaten after a meal." The term mizugashi (水菓子, water confections), which is used to refer to fruit today, is a remnant of the same term.

The word wagashi was coined at the end of 1800s to distinguish Japanese confectionery from sweets, cakes and baked goods introduced from the West termed yōgashi (洋菓子). However, wagashi was not the common term for Japanese confectionery until after the Second World War.

History

It is believed that the first food eaten as a confection in Japan was a processed food from the Jomon period. It is thought to have been either a food made by kneading chestnuts into a powder and then baking and hardening it with eggs and salt, or a food made by adding animal flesh to chestnut flour and baking and hardening it.

During the Yayoi period, dango (団子, dumpling) were made from grain or rice flour.

During the Nara period (710-794), a food called karakudamono (唐菓子, Chinese confections) was brought to Japan from the Tang dynasty. This food consisted mostly of powdered kneaded rice, wheat, soybeans, and azuki beans, seasoned with sweet miso paste, and fried in oil as the main ingredient. It was prized as a ritual food in various forms, but later fell into disuse in Japan and is now used as an offering to the Buddha in modern Buddhism. Sugar was introduced to Japan around 750, but it was not until 850 years later, around the Edo period, that sugar-based wagashi began to be widely produced.

The first beautifully crafted confections were created in the Heian period (794-1185) and are recorded in The Tale of Genji under the names tsubakimochi (椿餅, dumpling) and aosashi (青差, dumpling). Tsubakimochi was originally a sweet that was not fried in oil, which was unusual among karakudamono, but it was later changed to suit the tastes of the Japanese people. In the beginning, it was a mochi made by coating rice flour with a sweetener made from the juice of boiled vine grass and wrapping it in camellia leaves. Later, the sweetener made from the juice of boiled vine grass was replaced by sugar, and the rice cake was filled with red bean paste. Sweets of this period were food offered to the imperial court.

Flower-shaped tea delicacies made from various rice doughs known as chá guǒzi (茶果子) were invented in China during the Tang dynasty and spread to Japan during the Kamakura period from the Song dynasty, where they developed into many wagashi made from mochi. Vegetarian foods such as manjū and yōkan were also introduced from China into Japan during the Kamakura period, and these were turned into sweet confectionery in the Edo period.

In the 16th century, Japanese also produced "southern barbarian sweets", an adaptation of confections introduced by the Portuguese who popularized the use of sugar in Japan. Some similarities with Southeast Asian sweets have also been noted, suggesting strong influence from the area. With the increasing sugar trade, sugar became a common household ingredient. Influenced by the introduction of tea and snack food, the creation of wagashi took off during the Edo period in Japan.

Types

See also: List of Japanese desserts and sweets § Wagashi

A selection of wagashi to be served during a Japanese tea ceremony

A plate of six wagashi

Wagashi served with matcha tea

• Akumaki: one of the confections of Kagoshima Prefecture
• Anmitsu: chilled agar jelly cubes (kanten) served with sweet red bean paste and fruit
• Amanattō: simmered azuki beans or other beans with sugar, and dried—amanattō and nattō are not related, although the names are similar.
• Botamochi: a sweet rice ball wrapped with anko (or an, thick azuki bean paste)
• Daifuku: general term for mochi (pounded sweet rice) stuffed with anko
• Dango: a small, sticky, sweet Japanese dumpling, commonly skewered on a stick
• Domyoji: wagashi made with anko (red beans) wrapped in sticky rice
• Dorayaki: a round, flat sweet consisting of castella wrapped around anko
• Gokabou: a sweetened cake made of rice and mixed with sugar
• Hanabiramochi: a flat, red and white, sweet mochi wrapped around anko and a strip of candied gobo (burdock), shaped like a flower petal
• Ikinari dango: a steamed bun with a chunk of sweet potato and anko in the center, it is a local confectionery in Kumamoto.
• Imagawayaki (also kaitenyaki): anko surrounded in a disc of fried dough covering
• Kompeito: crystal sugar candy
• Kusa mochi: "grass" mochi, a sweet mochi infused with Japanese mugwort (yomogi), surrounding a center of anko
• Kuzumochi
• Kuri kinton: a sweetened mixture of boiled and mashed chestnuts
• Manjū: steamed cakes of an surrounded by a flour mixture, available in many shapes such as peaches, rabbits, and matsutake (松茸) mushrooms
• Mochi: a rice cake made of glutinous rice
• Monaka: a center of anko sandwiched between two delicate and crispy sweet rice crackers
• Oshiruko (also zenzai): a hot dessert made from anko in a liquid, soup form, with small mochi floating in it
• Rakugan: a small, very solid and sweet cake which is made of rice flour and mizuame
• Sakuramochi: a rice cake filled with anko and wrapped in a pickled cherry leaf
• Taiyaki: like a imagawayaki, a core of anko surrounded by a fried dough covering, but shaped like a fish
• Uirō: a steamed cake made of rice flour and sugar, similar to mochi
• Warabimochi: traditionally made from warabi and served with kinako and kuromitsu
• Yatsuhashi: thin sheets of gyūhi (sweetened mochi), available in different flavors, like cinnamon, and occasionally folded in a triangle around a ball of red anko
• Yōkan: one of the oldest wagashi, a solid block of anko, hardened with agar and additional sugar
• Yubeshi

Classification

Wagashi are classified according to the production method and moisture content. Moisture content is very important, since it affects shelf life.

• Namagashi (生菓子) (wet confectionery)—contains 30% or more moisture
  • Jō namagashi (上生菓子) is a very soft and delicate, seasonally varying namagashi, in various, often elaborate, shapes and colors, often reflecting seasonal plants. Some stores will have many dozens over the course of a year.
  • Mochi mono (もち物)
  • Mushi mono (蒸し物) (steamed confectionery)
  • Yaki mono (焼き物) (baked confectionery)
    • Hiranabe mono (平なべ物)(Flat pan baked confectionery)
    • Ōbun mono (オーブン物)　(oven　baked confectionery)
  • Nagashi mono (流し物)
  • Neri mono (練り物)
  • Age mono (揚げ物) (fried confectionery)
• Han namagashi (半生菓子) (half-wet confectionery)—contains 10%–30% moisture
  • An mono (あん物)
  • Oka mono (おか物)
  • Yaki mono (焼き物) (baked confectionery)
    • Hiranabe mono (平なべ物)(Flat pan baked confectionery)
    • Ōbun mono (オーブン物)　(oven　baked confectionery)
  • Nagashi mono (流し物)
  • Neri mono (練り物)
• Higashi (干菓子) (dry confectionery)—contains 10% or less moisture
  • Uchi mono (打ち物)
  • Oshi mono (押し物)
  • Kake mono (掛け物)
  • Yaki mono (焼き物) (baked confectionery)
  • Ame mono (あめ物) (candy confectionery)

Characteristics

Making wagashi typically takes a lot of work. They are usually named after poetry, historical events, or natural scenery.

Wagashi are known for their delicateness and variety in appearance, reflecting the delicacy culture of Japan.

They can be used as a gift during festivals, and can also be a daily treat for visiting guests. Different places have wagashi that are unique in flavor as their local specialty. Japanese people tend to take wagashi back home after business trips or personal trips.

Many Japanese believe that the artistic characteristics of wagashi represent both the season when the wagashi are made and the humble culture of Japan.

See also

• Chinese desserts – Chinese confections
• Hangwa – Korean confections
• Bánh – Vietnamese sweet or savoury snacks and confections
• Turkish delight – Turkish confections
• List of Japanese desserts and sweets
• List of Japanese snacks

References

• Aoki, Naomi (October 2000). 図説 和菓子の今昔 Zusetsu wagashi no konjyaku. 株式会社淡交社 Tankosha Publishing Co., Ltd. ISBN 978-4-473-01762-8.

External links

• Japan Wagashi Association (in Japanese)
• Video of how it is made at YouTube