Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
posted on 6 Feb 2010 by maki ::
20 comments
Traditional Japanese food is known for being beautiful and colorful. Nowhere is this more evident than with these jewel-like traditional candies from Kyoto.
The ones in the box here are ame (飴) or hard sugar candies. They mostly just taste like pure sugar, though a couple have some fruit flavor. But I find it hard to eat them anyway - they are so gorgeous.
The bumpy ones are kompeito (コンペイ糖 or 金平糖), which you may know from various anime and manga. They are simply colored candy, but rather fun to eat.
The ones with the flower designs are called kintaro ame (金太郎飴). You see versions of this type of candy in many other countries, known by various names. Glass and polymer clay beads are made with this ‘cane’ method too. These candies are so dainty and pretty, aren’t they?.
I don’t know what these ball shaped ones are called, but they are so cute. They look like little embroidered balls that girls used to play with called temari (手鞠).
Kyoto has a long tradition of find handcrafts, but Tokyo is not to be outdone either. These way too cute to eat things are hard sugar coated chocolate dragées in the shape of hina dolls, or hina ningyo, the dolls that are brought out to celebrate hina matsuri (see about hina matsuri here).
Don't miss any more recipes and articles! Subscribe to Just Hungry via your newsreader or by email (more about subscriptions).
20 comments so far...
My bento book
Related links
- Recipe for Dorayaki, Doraemon's favorite snack
- A tour through a fabulous Japanese department store food hall - Yokohama Takashimaya
- Cool stuff from Japan: Soy milk that's an instant tofu 'kit'
- Wagashi are not some sort of magic Japanese diet food
- Food packaging labeling for allergy-causing substances in Japan
Newest posts
Explore Japan & more with me
- Maki's Kyoto destinations
- Maki's Tokyo shopping map
- Coming soon: Maki's maps of favorite places in Yokohama, and...Provence!?
Recommended
- 100 Japanese Foods To Try
- The essential Japanese ingredients
- Onigiri 2.0 (an easier way for beginners)
- Looking at different types of rice
- How to prepare and cook Japanese rice and sushi rice
- A guide to different types of tofu
- How to make tofu
- How to make fool-proof mayonnaise
- Tamagoyaki or Atsuyaki tamago (Japanese sweet omelette)
- The anatomy of a Japanese meal
- A Food Lover's Way of Exploring Provence
- Kyoto report series
Recently commented posts
- Mugicha (barley tea) is the flavor of summer in Japan (78 comments)
- Global chicken parts (33 comments)
- Preserving shiso, basil, lemon verbena, and other herbs (17 comments)
- How to cook perfect rice - in a frying pan (48 comments)
- Goma dofu: Sesame tofu that's not tofu (28 comments)
Popular Articles
Today's:
- Roots: Where Food Comes From and Where It Takes Us, with some Accidental Butter
- Japanese Basics: How to make Japanese-style plain rice and sushi rice
- Instant ramen and cup noodles are very, very bad for you
- Basics: Cold soba noodles with dipping sauce
- Onigiri (Omusubi) revisited: An easier way to make Japanese rice balls, step by step
All time:
- Japanese Basics: How to make Japanese-style plain rice and sushi rice
- Basics: Cold soba noodles with dipping sauce
- Onigiri (rice balls)
- Onigiri (Omusubi) revisited: An easier way to make Japanese rice balls, step by step
- Homemade mayonnaise without tears (Basics)
- Instant ramen and cup noodles are very, very bad for you
- Basics: Tamagoyaki or Atsuyaki Tamago, Japanese sweet omelette
- Chicken Karaage: Japanese Fried Chicken
- How to make tofu (Milking the Soy Bean, Part 2)
- Japanese beef curry (Curry Rice)
- Okonomiyaki, Osaka style
- Japanese grocery stores in the United States and territories
- Japanese grocery store list
- Japanese basics: dashi stock
- 100 Japanese foods to try
Last viewed:
- All about dashi in The Japan Times
- Omuraisu (aka omurice or omu rice, Japanese rice omelette)
- Zürich style veal in cream and wine sauce (Zürigschnätzlets)
- Roasted spicy-sweet red pepper jam
- Japanese food and beverages for diabetics and low-carb eaters
- Hamaguri-zushi step 2
- Onigiri (Omusubi) revisited: An easier way to make Japanese rice balls, step by step
- Swiss food bloggers?
Just Hungry is a site about food. There are
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
I actually know kompeito as a candy I ate as a child here in the Azores (Portugal).
They're called "confeito" around here.
It's nice to find common things from the other side of the world!
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
'konpeito' is derived from the word 'confeito' as the portuguese explorers brought the candy (along with other confections) to japan in the 15th-16th century
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
Aw... They're so cute. I really love the hina dolls.
Re: ame
Thanks! I like to have learned sugar candies are called ame :) We've got some gorgeous sugar candy here as well! :)) But I try not to use them in my bento, only for special occasions (like hanami).
---
Come visit at Graasland!
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
I love the Japanese candies, Japanese gum, etc. Always so creative and cute. How do they do it? The colors are always so vibrant and charming.
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
I was at Arashiyama a few months back, and I came across this shop selling the most beautiful sweets - they even had trays of sushi shaped entirely from sugar, in addition to various flavoured konpeito.
I'll really miss the Kansai region once I move out to Tokyo - there's so much more culture here than there.
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
Those are absolutely adorable! I usually only find the Japanese chocolates and cookies at the Asian market, now I have to search online for some of these.
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
Ooh, those look delicious! I bought a bag of konpeito once - it kept me functioning in class on little sleep for two days XD
"Stop having the boring tuna; stop having the boring life" - Vince Offer
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
these candies are so cute! reminds me of colorful beads!
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
i've been trying to find a recipe or more information about a type of tea sweet that I bought at a shop in Kyoto. I think its a type of higashi. They were pale pink and apricot colored. They seemed to be some type of molded sugar with a dry, crumbly texture that dissolved in your mouth. I visited during Sakura Matsuri, and the candies were blossom shaped. They were carefully packaged in a beautiful paper box, and came with a tiny green fondant or mochi textured string, to make leaves and vines for each blossom when serving.
The sweets were beautiful and very pleasant. Do you have any ideas?
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
oohh sooo cute! i remember eating these all the time growing up in hawaii. funny now that i am in okinawa i haven't really seen them. gotta go look for them now!!!!
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
Before I finished reading your entry I offered this candy (pretend though) to 2 of my daughters who are watching Naruto thats funny you mentioned the pink one... They look beautiful..
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
Those candies are absolutely beautiful! I had no idea you could make candies using the cane method. I'm familiar with making cane from glass, but I wonder how on earth you could make candies like that? I am intrigued!
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
Oh, they sell it here as well (Malaysia). At a shop called Sticky which originates from Aus. I've seen those with words in them! here's a vid for those who haven't seen how they make these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD4pDa_a1YI&feature=player_embedded
Kinda cool eh :-)
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
They look like little toys. Kawaii!
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
My how those colors pop out of this page! They definitely look fun to eat. Thank you for this post!
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
They are really pretty and I received some as a gift once. Was it just my gift or do they typically just taste like plain sugar? are there varieties made with other flavours?
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
Really cute candies, wanna try them
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
i've tried those candies sent by my friend from japan. they're really cute but i find that they're quite sweet but the taste is great!
check out my website>> Just Cool Stuff
Re: Cool stuff from Japan: Beautiful traditional candies
AWW! Too cute! How can I get this?!?!
Post new comment