How to Make Japanese Wagashi : Nerikiri Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between wagashi and nerikiri? ›

Nerikiri is a type of wagashi that is made out of sweetened white bean paste and glutinous rice flower. It's often served at tea ceremonies, but also make for a sweet snack for any time!

Nerikiri is a type of wagashi (traditional Japanese sweet) made with shiro-an (sweetened white bean paste) and gyūhi (a type of mochi) or glutinous rice flour.

Boiled azuki beans are sweetened with sugar and mashed to create either smooth anko (koshian) or chunky anko (tsubuan). Other common ingredients for wagashi include rice cakes (mochi), rice flour, Japanese agar (kanten), sesame paste and chestnuts.

What does nerikiri taste like? The moist and elegant sweetness slowly melts in your mouth. Since it is only white bean paste, there is no texture. It is very tasty when eaten with a little strong green tea.

Nerikiri are a type of soft sweet often enjoyed with matcha tea or eaten to celebrate something. Their form expresses nature and the 4 seasons. In spring you might eat a nerikiri in the form of a cherry blossom flower. In the autumn a chrysanthemum or maple leaf.

Branding and Reputation. Craftsman families have handed down the production techniques of wagashi for hundreds of generations. Each family has become a brand with its own techniques and artistic presentations that will add to the overall cost of the sweets.

The most famous seasonal variety is the ichigo daif*cku, filled with a whole strawberry wrapped in a thin layer of red bean paste. Daif*cku is eaten as a dessert or a quick snack and it is usually served accompanied by a cup of refreshing green tea.

Storage / How to enjoy Nerikiri

Please keep nerikiri refrigerated at all times & consume within 2 days. Best enjoyed at room temperature, paired with a warm cup of unsweetened japanese or chinese tea. (Do not remove the cover until you're ready to consume, to prevent the nerikiri skin from drying).

Wagashi is a healthy sweet which contains plant protein, fiber, almost no animal fats, and no cholesterol. In this aspect, it is very different from Western sweets. Red beans often used in wagashi contain antioxidants, high concentrations of catechin, anthocyanidin and more polyphenols than red wine.

Nerikiri (練り切り) in various shapes and colors. Asian skunk cabbage, rose of Sharon, hydrangea, and rose. 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.

Is wagashi like mochi? ›

Despite common misunderstandings, wagashi is not the same as mochi. Mochi is a type of wagashi, though. Mochi refers specifically to a type of wagashi that is made from pounded glutinous rice, also known as mochigome.

The kawaii loaves are made from a mixture of domestic wheat flour, cream, honey and plenty of fresh milk, which makes this bread so moist and fluffy. There are four types of shokupan loaves to choose from: plain, chocolate, azuki (red bean) and cheese, plus additional seasonal flavours.

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), the term kashi (菓子) meant both confectionery and fruit, and was more commonly used to refer to fruit.

Daif*cku is a type of rice cake consisting of the dough which is the steamed non glutinous (ordinary) rice pound in a mortar until no grain is left, being filled with sweet bean paste containing the skin. Mame-daif*cku is a rice cake in which red beans are mixed into the dough.

In contrast to wagashi, which are traditional Japanese snacks often served during tea ceremonies, dagashi are much less expensive and made with cheaper ingredients. Dagashi are not meant to be fancy. They are simple snacks meant to be enjoyed for their flavors and fun packaging.

Namagashi are usually freshly made and are much more moist than other wagashi, like higashi. It generally contains 30% more water than other types. Like other wagashi, namagashi are made of natural ingredients; additives are rarely used.