I have showed you so much Japanese food, and drinks and snacks and everything

But the stuff I'm going to show you today

is probably my ultimate favourite thing to eat in Japan

Traditional Japanese sweets, or "wagashi"

I have dying to make a video for you guys about this stuff

because I just love it!

and it's a lot different than anything you can find in N. America or Europe

I hope guys are as interested in it as I am

So yesterday I went shopping in Asakusa

Asakusa is great for traditional Japanese stuff

and they have SO many wagashi shops!

So if you're ever looking for wagashi, totally recommend shopping in Asakusa

First I visited one of the most famous wagashi shops in Asakusa

It's located right near kaminarimon

And the name of the shop is Kamejyuu

They are famous for their dorayaki

So I bought some dorayaki there

and I got 2 other things from that shop

So I'm gonna start by showing you guys those things

All right, so this is a dorayaki

What it is, is it's 2 pancakes

and in the middle there is red bean paste

This is actually my first time trying a dorayaki from this famous shop

So I bet it's really yummy

The size of the dorayaki that they sell

is a little larger than other ones you will find

and it looks super yummy!

So I'm going to cut that in half

and show you guys what the inside looks like

All right, so here it is!

You can see the red bean paste inside there

They also have a white bean paste version

But this is their best seller

so I thought I should get this one

Japanese sweets are best eaten with matcha or green tea

I don't have any of that today

but if you guys are ever to eat Japanese sweets

I totally recommend having them with green tea or matcha

because Japanese sweets are not super sweet

and they just go perfectly with green tea

All right lets try it!

Itadakimasu!

Mmmmm

I can definitely see why they are famous for their dorayaki

This is so much better than any other one I've ever tasted!

The pancakes are really fluffy!

and the bean paste is not super sweet at all

So even if you're not into super sweet stuff like cake or cupcakes

I'd definitely give Japanese sweets a try

They're definitely pretty low on the sweet side, which is pretty cool

Ok the next Japanese sweet I have to show you is from the same store, Kamejyuu

and it is the monaka!

Now this is pretty similar to the dorayaki

It is 2 thin wafers made out of mochi

and in the inside is shiro-an

or white bean paste

This is actually the first time I've had a shiro-an monaka

That's really yummy!

The wafers are really delicate

They almost dissolve in your mouth when you bite into it

and again the bean paste isn't super sweet at all

It's a very subtle sweetness

The next wagashi that I have here is kintsuba

Again, this one is made with sweet bean paste

What they do, is they take a cube of sweet bean paste

and then they dip it in a very light batter

and they fry each side individually

So they'll stand it up on the grill like this and fry that side

Then turn it to fry the next, and so on

So you get a very delicate battery that coats the bean paste

Normally you would eat wagashi using a specific utensil called a youji

But I don't own one so today I'm going to eat them with chopsticks

All right so here's what it looks like

You can see the thin layer of batter on the outside

Let's try it!

I find that the red bean paste has a stronger flavour than the white one

So if you're kinda iffy about trying bean paste

I would recommend starting with the white one

I love it, so the red one is good for me

I really like this

I like the delicate batter, it's nice

It's not heavy at all

Again, would be really yummy with tea!

So this next one is my absolute favourite wagashi

It just looks beautiful, and I really love the flavour

It is called nerikiri

Can you see the gorgeous colour

and the detailed floral pattern that it has

Nerikiri are made using a mixture of white bean paste

and a soft mochi called gyuhi

and after that, once you've made your paste

you can mold it into whatever shape, whatever colour you like

So they've very interesting

You can find gorgeous designs if you do a search on google for "nerikiri"

And again, if you're looking to try these, check out Asakusa

They had the awesomest assortment of these

They're just so much fun to look at, they're beautiful

Again, this would be eaten using a youji

But let's use chopsticks today

The texture of these is amazing

What can I compare it to...

It's like a marzipan

But a lot softer and creamier

and it dissolves in your mouth a lot faster than a marzipan

But very similar

This is definitely my favourite of all wagashi

I really recommend that you guys try it if you come to Japan

If you're ever involved in a Japanese tea ceremony

this is the most popular sweet that they will give to you with your tea

So if you're able to participate in a tea ceremony

definitely recommend that, because you will probably get to try

some nerikiri out when you do that

You can see how soft it is when I cut it here

Can cut it with barely any pressure

The last Japanese sweet that I have to show you guys today

is something that is super gorgeous

but I've never gotten a chance to eat

and I'm always looking at them and wanting to try them!

So I definitely wanted to do that today with you guys

Aren't these so pretty?

Like the nerikiri, these also come in many different shapes

and colours, and with different fillings inside

I didn't know the name of these

But someone on Twitter helped me out and told me they're called kingyoku

So if you want to search for those on Google you can do that

Aren't these pretty? I can't wait to try them

They're just a simple jelly

and you can fill them with whatever you like

Fruits, or bean paste shapes, or other little jellies

There's beans in there, some azuki beans in there

Let's try one!

I think I'm gonna try the kiwi one

because it's so pretty

Look at that

This is a chestnut

Kingyoku are often eaten in the summer

because they're seen as a cool and refreshing treat

Just the look of them looks very summery and refreshing

I have no idea what this is going to taste like

Let's try! Itadakimasu!

Oh the jelly is really thick!

It's like a really thick jello

They jelly itself is flavoured too

It's really sweet

Mmm that's really yummy

Tastes very similar to jello

It's like a jello, with a thicker (closer to gummy candy) consistency

This is actually one of the sweetest out of all the things I ate today

It's a lot sweeter than the others

I hope you guys enjoyed this video on wagashi (Traditional Japanese sweets)

There are so many different kinds

I just showed you guys a few of the main ones

But there are hundreds!

Definitely google "wagashi" if you're interested in seeing more

There are so many beautiful patterns of the jelly ones I showed you

and the nerikiri type

If you guys have ever tried wagashi yourself

please let me know down in the comments which ones are your favourites

so I can find some new ones to try

Thanks for watching and I'll see you guys soon, bye!

This video was made as part of the YouTube Space Jidaigeki Program