Manju (food)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Manju (饅頭 manjū?) is a famous, popular, and traditional Japanese confection.
There are many varieties of manju, but most have an outside made from flour, rice powder and buckwheat and an inside filled with an (red bean paste). The bean paste is made from boiled azuki beans and sugar. They are boiled together again and kneaded. There are several varieties of bean paste including koshian, tsubuan, and tsubushian. Bean paste is used in most parts of Japanese-style confectionery.
[edit] History
Manju was derived from a type of mochi (蒸餅), or pounded rice cake, that existed in China for a long time. It was originally called Mantou in Chinese but became known as manju when it came to Japan. In 1341, a Japanese envoy that came back from China brought back manju with him and started to sell it as Nara-manju. It is said that this was the origin of Japanese manju. Since then, it has been eaten for over 700 years by all kinds of Japanese citizens. Now you can find it in any Japanese sweet shop. Being able to buy it cheaply is another reason why manju have been famous and loved by Japanese people for a long time.
[edit] Varieties
There are a myriad of varieties of manju, some more common than others. For example, matcha (green tea) manju is one of the most common. In this case, the outside of the manju has a green tea flavor and is colored green. There are also manju that have different flavors in the inside, such as orange-flavored cream. Also, as is the case with many Japanese foods, in some parts of Japan one can find manju unique to that region. Dougo manju is an example for this. The town of Dougo is famed for its hot springs; the manju here has an ordinary taste but it has a different name because it is a peculiarity.
