Persimmon Purée Gelée

05Nov08

Persimmon, an exotic fruit for one who has always lived in cold northern places, is a taste of tropical paradise and daydreams. The first time I ate a persimmon was when I moved to Ann Arbor after college and lived in a house with a communal kitchen. My husband, who was then just one of the house-mates, found a crate of almost rotting fruit behind a produce store. I was reluctant to taste trash, but everyone else seemed to be enjoying them. That was the best fruit I’d ever tasted. Astringent persimmons (Hachiya) are edible only when they are very soft. They were perfect!

Filed under: Japanese Food, Okashi, Sweets   |  13 Comments
Tags: agar-agar, Japanese Cooking, Japanese Recipes, persimmons

Mitsumame! Japan’s Summertime Sweet

31Aug08

Mitsumame is a traditional Japanese summertime sweet—a bowl of fruit, sweet red peas, ice cream and gelatin that looks like ice cubes. Does this sound appealing? No? To be honest, I was hesitant to try this recipe.

What a surprise: this dessert is fabulous! Use fresh ripe fruit. You won’t be disappointed.

Filed under: Japanese Food, Okashi, Snacks, Sweets   |  10 Comments
Tags: agar-agar, Japanese Cooking

Blueberry Gems

13Aug08

This is another in the summer jewel kanten experiments. Blueberries are so lovely eaten out of hand that one could say that making this dessert is superfluous. But it is pretty.

Filed under: Japanese Food, Okashi, Sweets   |  5 Comments
Tags: agar-agar, blueberries, kanten

Maize Gelée

05Aug08

Corn agar-agar, korn kanten, maize gelée, creamy yellow jello… What was I thinking? Tomatoes have always been my highlight of summer, but suddenly I am attracted to corn. I was thinking about creamy corn soup, but cold, so the idea of a savory corn gelatin came to mind. It’s pretty, but it surprised me how sweet it was! I’ll have time to experiment with this recipe. Lots of possibilites: shoyu, miso, cheese, yogurt? Or go with dessert? vanilla…

Filed under: Japanese Food, Okashi, Snacks, Sweets   |  2 Comments
Tags: agar-agar

Watermelon Jewels

23Jul08

Watermelon can be an elegant summer dessert—what is more tempting than frosty pink fruit shimmering in the heat. At your next sophisticated soirée, you can serve watermelon without worries about the seed-spitting, juice dripping antics disrupting the urbane atmosphere of your affair, if you make watermelon gélatine!

Filed under: Japanese Food, Okashi, Snacks, Sweets   |  2 Comments
Tags: agar-agar, Japanese Recipes