Wagashi, Sweets & Tea

Anko, mochi & the matcha bowl

Japanese sweets — wagashi — are quieter than their Western cousins, built around sweet red-bean anko, glutinous mochi, and the seasons. They exist in conversation with tea: the whisked bowl of matcha that anchors the tea tradition, and the everyday cup that a dorayaki or daifuku is made to accompany.

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Every recipe

4 recipes in this region.

Several round, pillowy white mochi daifuku dusted in fine potato starch on a dark plate, one cut in half to reveal a smooth core of dark-red anko, and one strawberry daifuku sliced to show a whole red berry nested in red-bean paste inside the soft mochi, beside a bowl of green tea.

Vegan

Japan (an Edo-era wagashi, made nationwide; strawberry daifuku is a Tokyo innovation) · Japanese

Daifuku (Soft Mochi Wrapped Around Sweet Red-Bean Anko)

Pillowy, cloud-soft mochi made from glutinous rice flour, dusted in potato starch and wrapped around a ball of sweet red-bean anko. The most beloved of Japanese wagashi — and the base for the springtime favorite, strawberry daifuku.

IntermediateSweetsSweets & Tea

Two burnished golden-brown honey pancakes sandwiching a thick layer of glossy dark-red chunky anko that bulges at the center, one dorayaki resting whole and another split in half to show the bean filling, on a small ceramic plate beside a cup of green tea.

Veg

Japan (a Tokyo-born wagashi, now made nationwide) · Japanese

Dorayaki (Honey Pancakes with Sweet Red-Bean Anko)

Two small, springy castella-style pancakes sandwiching a generous layer of sweet red-bean anko. Fragrant with honey and faintly caramel, dorayaki is the beloved wagashi that turned a certain blue robot cat into a national mascot for good snacks.

EasySweetsSweets & Tea

A wide dark stoneware chawan holding vivid jade-green usucha whisked to a fine pale-green foam with a small swirl at the center, a bamboo chasen resting on its holder and a bamboo chashaku scoop alongside on a linen cloth.

Vegan

Japan (the chado tea tradition of Kyoto and Uji, home of Japan's finest matcha) · Japanese

Matcha (Whisked Usucha, Thin Tea)

How to whisk a proper bowl of usucha — thin matcha — with a bamboo chasen: bright, jade-green, frothed to a fine foam, and faintly sweet-bitter. The everyday face of Japan's centuries-old tea tradition, ready in two minutes on a home counter.

EasyDrinksSweets & Tea

A tall iced matcha latte with vivid green tea poured over white milk and ice, a bamboo whisk beside it on a light wooden table.

Veg

Japan (matcha tradition, Uji & Nishio) · Japanese

Matcha Latte (Whisked Japanese Green Tea Latte)

Stone-ground Japanese matcha whisked smooth and poured over steamed milk — grassy, sweet and gently caffeinated, with no bitterness when you make it right. A café favourite that's better and cheaper at home.

EasyDrinksSweets & Tea