Manjū


Manjū is a traditional Japanese confection. There are many varieties of manjū, but most have an outside made from flour, rice powder, kudzu and buckwheat and a filling of anko, usually made from boiled adzuki beans and sugar. Manjū is sometimes made with other fillings like chestnut jam. In Hawaii, one can find Okinawan manjū that are made with a filling of purple sweet potato, butter, milk, sugar and salt, but the most common filling is bean paste of which there are several varieties including koshian, tsubuan and tsubushian.

History

Manjū was derived from a type of mochi, or pounded rice cake, that has existed in China for a long time. It was originally called Mantou in Chinese, but became known as manjū when it came to Japan. In 1341, a Japanese envoy that came back from China brought back mantou with him and started to sell it as nara-manjū. It is said that this was the origin of Japanese manjū. Since then, it has been eaten for nearly 700 years by Japanese people. Now it can be found in many Japanese sweet shops. Its low price is a reason that it is popular.

Varieties

There are myriad varieties of manjū, some more common than others.