My favorite wagashi (Japanese sweet) is mochi, the delightfully soft and chewy rice cake available in all shapes and flavors. One of the best things about mochi is that the selection changes with the seasons.
- In spring, everyone’s go-to is sakura mochi. It’s a light pink colored mochi filled with sweet red bean paste and wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom leaf.
- Some may argue kuzumochi is not technically mochi because it’s made from the starch of a kudzu plant as opposed to glutinous rice but it’s the perfect summer dessert especially when chilled as well as topped with kuromitsu (black sugar syrup) and kinako (roasted soy bean powder).
- Every autumn, I indulge in ohagi, which are pre-formed balls of sticky rice enveloped in a thick layer of sweet red bean paste.
- Last but not least, winter brings ichigo daifuku–a thin layer of mochi wrapped around sweet red bean paste and a whole juicy, in-season strawberry stuffed beautifully in the middle.
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