Kurumi daifuku / soft rice cake with sweetened azuki bean paste and walnuts

Toasted walnuts add a rich taste and crunch to a standard everyday daifuku rice cake. Turbinado in soft gyuhi mochi goes really well with walnuts and tsubuan crumbly azuki bean paste inside. Best on Day 1 for contrasting texture with walnuts, especially while still warm.

1 daifuku cake (1/4 of recipe):
130 calories; 2.8 g protein; 3.0 g fat; 23.4 g carbohydrate; 21.6 g net carbs; 1 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 1.8 g fiber; 145 mg potassium

Chabukusa, matcha-aji / crepe wrapper cake, matcha flavor

Also called tsuyabukusa or fukusa, this little cake tastes similar to everyday dorayaki or taiyaki. The sea sponge look is not just unique; the air pockets lighten the cake's chewy texture. With this matcha version, the delightful aroma of green tea fills your mouth as you take a bite.

This is fun to make. The batter you spread on the hot pan quickly produces air bubbles, which you gently rub or touch with paper or cloth to open up and make craters.  Keep the heat level relatively high for the best bubbling results.

1 cake (1/5 of recipe):
110 calories; 3.2 g protein; 1.0 g fat; 21.5 g carbohydrate; 19.8 g net carbs; 23 mg sodium; 21 mg cholesterol; 1.7 g fiber

Uguisumochi / warbler cake with sweet azuki paste

As plum blossom season approaches, this chubby oblong cake coated with green soybean flour starts to appear at sweets shops. The cake form symbolizes the spring songbird, uguisu, or Japanese warbler -- I wouldn't blame you if you don't see the resemblance in appearance, but once you put it in your mouth, the combination of soft outer cake and silky azuki bean paste inside reminds you of the tenderness of spring.

One cake (1/4 of recipe): 
110 calories; 2.5 g protein; 0.6 g fat; 24.0 g carbohydrate; 22.4 g net carbs; 0 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 1.5 g fiber

Koshian / silky azuki bean paste

An or anko sweetened azuki bean paste comes either as tsubuan with visible beans, or this silky version called koshian. Koshian highlights the natural sweetness of azuki beans and offers a smooth texture that matches the consistency of small, soft mochi-type sweets. Koshian is made in a similar way as shiroan white bean paste but involves fewer steps toward the end.

Whole recipe (approx. 530 g):
1,297 calories; 40.6 g protein; 4.4 g fat; 277.4 g carbohydrate; 241.8 g net carbs; 2 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 35.6 g fiber

Itokoni / root vegetables and azuki beans simmered in broth

While itokoni is not very different from my usual root vegetables miso soup, it does offer something new -- azuki beans. Itokoni made with root vegetables, konnyaku yam cake and usuage thin deep-fried tofu or atsuage deep-fried tofu is a regional dish from Ishikawa, Toyama and Niigata prefectures. My aunt who lives in Namerikawa in Toyama brought us a pot of itokoni one day in late fall, and that was when I first discovered the magic of azuki beans, which make an ordinary soup slightly starchy and subtly mellow. As a young child, I did not really like soy sauce- or miso-tinted brownish simmered dishes; they all looked so unappealing and almost discouraging to eat, but Auntie Namerikawa's itokoni really grabbed my heart, and I begged her to bring us itokoni again and again. The recipe below tastes just like her itokoni.

1/2 of recipe:
141 calories; 7.7 g protein; 2.7 g fat; 21.6 g carbohydrate; 12.9 g net carbs; 238 mg sodium (with reduced-sodium miso; 300+ mg with regular miso); 0 mg cholesterol; 8.7 g fiber

Nama yatsuhashi / cinnamon-flavored steamed rice cakes with sweet azuki beans

I first encountered nama yatsuhashi during a school trip to Kyoto, where this special treat was waiting for us at every ryokan inn and souvenir shop. Back then the cinnamon aroma was very exotic for junior high school students from a small town, and at first we were a bit surprised by this Kyoto confectionery. But as our trip continued, soon everyone was keen for more (free) nama yatsuhashi. Cinnamon-flavored soft rice cake wrappers taste so good in combination with the sweet azuki beans inside. This is one of a very few Japanese sweets Tom likes.

Taiyaki / fish-shaped cakes with sweet azuki bean paste

One of my favorite Japanese sweets. There are many specialized taiyaki shops all over Japan, and their fish often have a different look. Sweet azuki bean paste is the traditional filling, although in the last few decades filling options have expanded to custard cream, matcha cream, chocolate cream, caramel cream, etc. I like the traditional style taiyaki, whose cake batter is made of flour, water, egg and baking soda (no milk or baking powder) and is filled with azuki bean paste cooked right there at the shop. The recipe below tastes very similar to the mini imagawayaki (a round cake with sweet azuki bean paste inside, which is the original form of taiyaki) I used to buy in my childhood at a little shop run by an old lady in a neighboring town.

Sakuramochi (Chomeiji) / sweet azuki paste cake in cherry leaves (Tokyo style)

Wrapped in aromatic cherry leaves, this is a salty-sweet and tasty confectionery. The crepes made of flour and sweet rice powder are normally pan-fried, but microwaving makes it so easy and quick – and oil-free!

Tsubuan / sweetened crumbly azuki bean paste

A typical sweetened azuki bean paste for a number of Japanese sweets.  Pre-made bean paste from store shelves is handy but has a clear sugar taste rather than bean's natural sweetness. Making your own bean paste takes some time, but it’s definitely worth the effort. Use a thick-walled pot for best results.

Azukigayu / rice porridge with azuki beans

Slightly salty porridge with the soft sweetness of azuki.

Sekihan / steamed sweet rice with azuki beans (microwave version)

No steamer or rice cooker? No problem. Here is sekihan in the microwave.

Zenzai / sweet azuki soup with rice cakes

A simple, soupy sweet snack with rice cakes.