Dango vs. Mochi

Colored mochi

The only difference between mochi and dango is the way that they are made.  To make mochi, you start with actual glutinous rice that is ground, steamed, and then pounded to make a sticky ball or cake.

Dango on the grill

Although it looks similar to mochi, dango is made from different types of rice flour (including a sweet glutinous rice flour, of which the base is called mochiko).  Dango is easier to make since it doesn’t require you to pound the dough.  You simply mix the rice flour with hot water to make a dough, separate it into small balls, and boil them in salted water. Both mochi and dango can be eaten in similar ways – filled with azuki, grilled, with a sauce, skewered, etc. – so it’s easy to confuse them with each other especially if you’re not the one making it!

Cat Sweets too Good to Eat!

A Japanese housewife, Caroline, creates these lovable cat-themed sweets annually on Cat’s Day (that’s on 22 February in Japan). She started off with making cat shaped nerikiri, a traditional Japanese sweet made by mixing shiro-an (sweetened white bean paste) with gyuhi (made of glutinous rice, similar to mochi but softer), then tinted and sculpted into various shapes and styles.

Unfortunately, these adorable sweets are not available for purchase.

They are just too cute to eat!

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Disney Girls Project

In 45 stores at Laforet Harajuku a limited edition of Disney Girls items will be for sale, from February 2nd until April 6th. Such things being sold are clothes, shoes, bags and accessories featuring Minnie Mouse, Alice, Marie and other characters. Some special events, such as a Frozen Styling Contest and Girls Day Party will take place.

‘Foxy’ Minnie Mouse shoes – available at the Jeffrey Campbell Boutique

 Minnie Mouse Dress – available at E hyphen world gallery BonBon

Special Disney installations are placed on the different floors from LaForet

LaForet and Disney

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Le Souffle

Le Souffle is a french restaurant located in Tokyo. As you can guess by their name, their specialties are souffle's. A customer has to wait about 15 minutes to get their own fluffy and delicate souffle.

Le Souffle

Unagi

 

It’s said that unagi (freshwater eel) has been consumed in Japan since thousands of years ago. As it’s rich in protein, vitamin A and E, and so on, it’s believed that unagi gives people stamina. For thisreason, it’s eaten the most during the hottest time of the year in Japan. It’s a Japanese custom to eat unagi on Doyo-no-ushinohi (the ox day during Doyo period) in summer which fall between mid July and early August.

Filleted and deboned unagi is commonly glaze-grilled, and it’s called unagi-no-kabayaki. It’s skewered and grilled with sweet basting sauce, and is popularly served on top of steamed rice. Vacuum-sealed unagi-no-kabayaki is often available at Asian grocery stores.

Unagi-no-kabayaki is cooked differently in eastern Japan and western Japan. In eastern Japan, unagi is generally steamed after it is grilled, then it’s grilled again. In the western part of Japan, unagi isn’t usually steamed before grilling. So, unagi-no-kabayaki in eastern Japan is more tender than that in western Japan.

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Rilakkuma Rims

For those of you who are obsessed with the popular San-X character, Rilakkuma rims will go on sale in April. They will come in two colors:

Pearl White

Silver

Even the valve caps are cute!

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Mikeneko-san

Legendary furry cat sells roasted sweet potatoes in Kurayoshi!

 

Yaki-imo (or roasted sweet potato) is a popular Japanese snack, especially during cold weathers. Yaki-imo can be prepared in several ways, which include roasting the satsumaimo (sweet potato) on small heated stones — a method called ishiyaki. 

The most famous ishiyaki-imo seller is the legendary cat mascot known as Mikeneko Yamada.

Mikeneko-san’s ishiyaki-imo stand can be found around the Kurayoshi City of Tottori Prefecture. As one might guess, this furry cat selling sweet roasted potatoes on the streets is so popular — especially among children!

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Homemade Pocky Sticks!

It's FREE... sorta, if you don't mind doing the handwork! 

 

Find it over HERE.

Japan's Spring Season Fun

-Floral-coated Banana and Pink Burger for Japan’s spring season
Tokyo Banana no Hana is a special spring version of the sweet Tokyo Banana treat. While the regular version consists of a banana custard cream wrapped in a soft sponge cake, the special version has a banana shake flavored cream inside instead. The Tokyo Banana no Hana is available for a limited time — perhaps, during the spring season only. This sweet and creamy treat makes a very cute souvenir!

 

And not getting left behind, McDonald’s Japan released Sakura Teritama — a very special Cherry Blossom version of their regular teritama! Sakura Teritama has slightly pink-coloured buns, with a delicate flavor of cherry blossoms and pink mayonnaise, together with red radish, teriyaki flavored pork patty, fried egg, and lettuce. Along with Sakura Teritama, Sakura cherry drinks and float will also be released for a limited time — perfect for the celebration of Spring!

Hinamatsuri - ひな祭り

ひな祭り is also known as “Girl’s Day” or “Japanese Doll Festival”. It is a traditional Japanese holiday that is celebrated on March 3rd. It is also called 桃の節句 (momo no sekku) or “festival of peach blossoms.”

ひな祭り (hinamatsuri) is a day to pray for young girls’ growth and happiness. To celebrate, Japanese families who have young girls display ひな人形 (hina ningyō – hina dolls) in their homes. Traditionally, these dolls were believed to have the power to take bad spirits. That is why they have to be taken down from display soon after ひな祭り (hinamatsuri) ends. If the dolls are left up past March 4th, it is said that it will result in a late marriage for the daughter.

 Some traditional ひな祭り foods!

菱餅 (hishimochi) is a special kind of mochi (rice cake) that is colored pink, white, and green. The pink (peach blossoms) is for chasing evil spirits away, the white (snow) is for purity, and the green (new growth) is for health.

ひなあられ (hina arare) – sugar-coated popped rice. 

桜餅 (sakura mochi) - pink mochi filled with sweet bean paste and covered with cherry leaves.

甘酒 (amazake) - sweet sake. 

ちらし寿司 (chirashizushi) – sushi rice with a variety of vegetables, egg, and fish or shrimp on top. Chirasu is a verb that means “to scatter” so chirashizushi is like “scattered sushi”.

Mister Donut

Mister Donuts has released their super cute and yummy looking donut called Strawberry Milk.

It consists of a Strawberry chocolate milk coat with freeze-dry strawberry chips on a fluffy donut with a milky strawberry cream inside.

It certainly looks yummy, doesn't it?