I love sweets. I don’t smoke or drink, but I need something sweet everyday. Toast with peanut butter and sweet jam, delicious muffins from COSTCO and home-brewed Starbucks coffee with a tasty, slightly sweet, creamy powder called Creap, sugar and honey are examples of sweet things that I enjoy at home. On days off I love having a cinnamon roll and scone at Starbucks Coffee with “Coffee of the Day”. Having sweets makes me happy. Recently I’ve begun liking Japanese sweets made with red bean paste and also white bean paste. During my last Smith’s vacation when I visited some Japanese family in Okayama (as I wrote about here), I felt like having Japanese sweets and ate some, surprising my Japanese family. (^.^)
In the photo is a picture of me with Taiyaki, a Japanese fish-shaped cake made using pancake or waffle batter which has filling inside, most commonly red bean paste although custard seems to be common too. Taiyaki with other fillings such as chocolate are available as well. I have tried it with red bean paste, custard and even a mix of both red bean paste and custard from a shop near my home in Tsukaguchi. All are good. I like Japanese sweets with not too much bean paste and for the bean paste to be well-balanced with whatever it’s put in. Manjū are very nice, especially the ones containing bean paste where the bean husks have been removed, offering a finer, smoother bean paste.
I am still quite new to the world of Japanese sweets so I look forward to trying and enjoying more of them. Be sure to give them a try if you’re in Japan. Enjoy! (^.^)
Derek
Teacher/Owner, Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi
スミス英会話 塚口校
Have you seen my English school’s web site yet? You can enjoy photos, videos and event pages there. Here’s a link: http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/tsukaguchi.shtml
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