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Mon. Dec. 5. 2022Japanese sweets making workshop

On Friday November 18, The disciplinary class “Exploring the World of Japanese Cuisine” took a field trip for Japanese sweets making workshop to Tawaraya Yoshitomi, one of the famous Japanese sweets makers in Kyoto.

Dina Cui (KCJS34, Vanderbilt University)shared her comments below:
For this field trip we went to Tawaraya Yoshitomi and made wagashi! Wagashi are traditional Japanese sweets that are typically eaten with matcha tea. Although there are many different types of wagashi, the ones that we made were filled with anko, or sweet bean paste, and wrapped in multi-colored soft and sticky mochi. They were mildly sweet and the colors were reminiscent of elements of fall, like the changing colors of the maple leaves.

I really enjoyed watching the wagashi shokunin, or wagashi artisan, demonstrate how to make wagashi for us. It was easy to see how skilled he was and honestly it was a little intimidating at first to see how fast he could assemble the wagashi. It definitely took us a little longer than it took him and our wagashi did not look as perfect as his did, but I had lots of fun all the same and felt it was a good experience to try our own hands at making this traditional Japanese sweet!

After the workshop, we were also treated to matcha tea and an additional wagashi with impressions of maple leaves on top, which were also both delicious and a perfect end to this field trip.