Eating Japanese desserts is one of the most favorite activities of people who like enjoying different cuisines. This is primarily because the Japanese have an extensive range of sweets and desserts available and mochi vs. manju is one of the most common comparisons. With this article, we are sharing the differences between two desserts, so you can decide which one you like better.
Mochi vs Manju:
Mochi
If you are fond of Japanese sweets, we are sure that you’ve heard about mochi, which is the sweet rice cake. It is made from glutinous rice flour and has a white paste. The paste is made into the rice cake and has a soft and sticky texture. It is used in a myriad of dishes, but it’s actually a simple dessert that’s dusted with sugar. Generally, it is made by pounding the glutinous rice into the paste form. However, the traditional chefs make it by mixing the rice flour in water and cooking it.
In fact, some people also cook mochi in a microwave oven, which means you can check from a variety of recipes to select the one that suits you. Mochi is actually from China, but now it can be found around the globe. For years, it was hard to find glutinous rice, but they are now readily available. As far as the origin is concerned, it has been a part of New Year celebrations for over a thousand years. Even more, some religious people also offer it to gods during religious rituals.
It can be consumed in plain form, but you can also dip it in sweet soy sauce to enhance the sweet flavors. In addition, it can be wrapped in nori, but many people add it as an ingredient to wagashi. On top of everything, daifukur uses mochi as a base because these rice cakes are made in balls and are filled with red beans sauce, and are rolled in the white rice powder. However, they can also be filled with fruits and whipped cream, depending on your taste preferences.
On top of everything, mochi is also filled with strawberries during the winter months. Moreover, mochi ice cream has gained extreme popularity, with which the ice cream scoops are wrapped in mochi, and has become a delicious treat. All in all, there are various other forms of mochi available in the culinary world and come with a variety of sweet toppings and sweet pastes.
Manju
Manju is another Japanese dessert and is known as the stuffed flour cake. These are the steamed and round buns which are filled up with anko paste (this is the red bean paste). However, it doesn’t mean you only need to stick to anko paste because it can be filled with vegetables and custards as well. Manju has been around since 1341 and was first served in China. In fact, many people think that it’s the adaption of mantou, which is another Chinese recipe that includes steamed buns filled with meat.
On the other hand, in Japan, these buns are filled with red bean paste because Japan had Buddhism, with which people weren’t allowed to eat meat. For this reason, people started using vegetables and red bean paste, which is what makes manju what they are today. Keep in mind that manju has to be filled and stuffed and look very round. As far as the ingredients are concerned, manju is made with buckwheat flour or wheat flour.
There are different types of manju out there, and all of them are different based on their ingredients. For instance, there is brown manju which has brown buns with anko paste, water manju with a soft texture and kudzu starch, and maple manju that’s shaped like maple leaves and looks like a sponge cake. Even more, there is green tea manju that’s green in color and has matcha powder as one of the main ingredients in the dough.
Manju can be easily found in Japanese restaurants, but some Korean restaurants also serve it. On the other hand, you can always make it at home because the preparation method is quite convenient, and the ingredients are easy to find in the local grocery stores. Not to forget, you might also find some restaurants serving manju with chestnut stuffing.