The craze for sweets in Japan is so peculiar. There’s always, “This Year’s #1 Dessert!” which will inevitably be forgotten about next year. Sweets like macarons and other delicate pastries are kicked up a notch or two once they enter Japan land. Its level of sophistication is nothing you will see here in the States.

The age-old jelly roll is one of “This Year’s #1 Dessert!” It  is super soft, and the cream inside is extra light and not so sweet.

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The art of perfection is everywhere in Japan. In its laquerware, electronics and especially in its food. Dessert Le Comptoir in Fukasawa, Tokyo is an example of food perfection. A 10 minute bus-ride from Jiyugaoka, it’s a bit of a challenge to make it out here if you are not given specific directions, but when you arrive, it’s worthwhile. Our friends who live in Fukasawa invited us here on our last day in Tokyo before heading back to Berkeley.

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By Yuki HD

When we were little we used to watch my oba-chan (grandmother) make this seasonal treat from Kagoshima prefecture in southern Japan. We were too little to enjoy it at first, but as we grew older the dish became more and more delicious.

Oba-chan’s preparation differed from the original recipe in that she substituted shochu for water. She did this to preserve the kinkan (kumquats), and the flavor was an unexpected gift.

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*Nahoko Morimoto is a Tokyo-based photographer. Her work has been featured in Brutus and Vogue Japan.

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There is something about Japanese confectionary and pâtisseries that pushes sweets to a level of sophistication I haven’t found anywhere else. It’s not the purely Japanese examples either. They excel in transforming desserts from all over the world into something less sweet, less heavy and more palatable. And it’s no coincidence that sweets are HUGE in Japan. If a cake shop has made it big somewhere in the world, that it’s only a matter of time before you’ll find a small shop opening in Japan, especially French pâtisseries.

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Did you know that the U.S. lost all its chestnut trees back in early 1900s due to a disease brought over from China or Japan? Oops. Almost all of the chestnuts we have now come from Italy or China. But The American Chestnut Foundation has been working very hard to revive them in this country. Apparently small batches are starting to be available in local markets.

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I don’t know about what’s going on in your city, but these days, NYC is filled with macaron shops. Sure some tastes better than others, but if you throw a stone, and it will hit a macaron shop or two. For the amount of effort you put in to make perfect macarons, I am slowly beginning to think that macarons have reached its saturation point, and my macarons may have to put on hold.

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On the very special occasion that a visitor from Japan would bring Toraya to our home in Cupertino, I would actually be excited about eating. I was a very picky, skinny child, but whenever my mom busted out the Toraya I would eat blocks of yokan (red bean dessert) and stack as much anko into my monaka sandwiches.

Wagashi (Japanese confections) have yet to hit it big in America, and you have to actually go to Japan to experience the real deal. 

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As I’ve written about in the past, I have developed an annoying food allergy. I’ve discovered that stone fruite are definitely not for me.  Not that I need to carry an epi-pen, or that my face breaks out, or my body is covered with hives — but it’s just uncomfortable, since my throat scratches so much and I can’t stop gagging after I eat any variety of these fruits.

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Hi, welcome to my new column, MOTOism. I’ll mostly be cooking here, as always, with the occasional restaurant rant, to keep everyone on their toes.

It’s summer, it’s hot, and it’s time to make an easy dessert that doesn’t boil the kitchen. Over the weekend, I made batches of macarons, but I still haven’t figured out my new oven so most of them were disastrous. 

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