London Life

The Answer is … Zunda Mochi

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Mystery edamameIn my previous post I set up a Mystery Sweet Quiz.  It was a simple guessing game to answer what kind of flavour/ingredient this sweet has for the centre filling. Maybe because I posted it on a weekend, it did not get many people’s attention on my blog but I posted the same quiz on my Instagram, twitter and facebook too and several people joined to this game there. Thank you Guys!

(Hint 1) My first hint was this photo of the sweet. I also mentioned that the ingredient was something becoming quite popular in the UK.

The answer, ingredient, is getting really well known in London so I thought somebody would guess it easily, but nobody did.

(Hint 2) The outer look and colour of sweet is usually associated with the flavour of the central filling for my sweets

With this hint people could still not give me the right answer, however, some named quite unusual ingredients in a green colour that I would like to try using sometimes in my sweet making.

(Hint 3) The ingredient is not unusual in the UK anymore and you can find it in a super market, either cooked or frozen these days.

With this third hint one person got the answer quite right. But have you?

Zunda Cream Mochi

So, the answer is that this sweet is Zunda Mochi!

Zunda Mochi

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Weekend Photo – Mystery Sweet

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It’s another Mystery Sweet Quiz time for you!

Here is a Mochi type Japanese sweet I made this summer and I’d like to know ‘What do you think the flavour of this Mochi sweet is’.

It’s got a central filling which is made with some ingredient that is becoming quite popular in the UK (and maybe Western worldwide). It is not that unusual to see this ingredient being used as sweet in Japan, but it might be a little surprise for British people.

I look forward to hearing what you think.😉

Mystery edamame

Have a lovely weekend.

Wagashi Workshop in London in Summer

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I have hosted several ‘Wagashi’ Japanese Sweet Making Workshops. They were mainly for adults and I had been thinking that it would be great if I could have a Workshop that people could participate with their children. In order to make this plan possible there were several issues to clear and the biggest one of them was that the event has to be held daytime. For solving the problem I thought it would be best if the event was held during the school holiday period. In case this idea happens, I have been considering several designs for sweets which are attractive and also simple enough for children to make but enjoyable for adults too. After going through many possibilities I finally picked three designs in the summer theme and set up a date and the venue to have a workshop on the 25th of July.

 

Wagashi Making Workshop (July/’19)

I had a ‘Wagashi’ Japanese Sweet Making Workshop in the Summer theme on the 25th of July and it ended well.

w 1

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Morning Glory, the Summer Sweet

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How’s your summer been so far? (Sorry, it’s winter for the people who live on the Southern Hemisphere). Here in London we had a record breaking hot day in July which was followed by some rainy cold days and now some sunny but still quite chilly days as summer. I wonder whether the Indian summer will come this year.

Morning Glory

I made some Japanese sweets in a summer flower design. This is one of them, Morning Glory. I think it’s the most summery flowers. It is the first plant that I have sown the seeds and looked after myself when I was a child.

Morning Glory2-2

I made this sweet because I received a private order. It is one of the best sweets for summertime.

Wagashi Workshop in London in July

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I have been thinking to have a ‘Wagashi’ Japanese Sweet Making Workshop in London with a summer theme for a long time. Although I was trying to make a plan, there were several obstacles in front of me and it took quite a while to set up an event. I wanted to do my Workshop in July which is the school holiday time so that children can join the activity with their parents.

So, I have finally fixed the day and the venue of my next Workshop. Because I wasted so much time for sorting out the problems, the time I have until the actual day became much shorter than I wanted it to be. I’ve got just TWO WEEKS from today. I hope many people find this workshop attractive and want to join me.

 

Wagashi Making Workshop in London

  • on: The 25th July (Thursday) 2:00-4:00pm
  • at : The Crouch End Cellars (55 The Broadway, Crouch End, London N8 8DT)

Workshop summer1

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Roses

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Oh, No! How time flies! We are already in July. Time passes so fast and it’s so difficult for me to catch up! I made these Rose sweets a little while ago but could not post it here until now.

Roses

Anyway, there are a lot of ways to express a Rose flower in a Japanese sweet. I have made several sweets in the past including the Mochi Rose last year.  The one here is using the same technique for making the Mochi Rose but I used ‘Nerikiri’ sweet instead of ‘Mochi’ this time.

Roses1

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‘Mochi Heaven’ Stall Ended!

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The Food Market that I had suddenly decided to have a stall has ended three days ago. In the last three years since I started making Japanese sweet for Kimono shop I have heard that so many people saying ‘I looove Mochi!’. As I said in my posts in the past I had believed that Western people didn’t like Mochi and I was wondering ‘is it really true that these people love Mochi?’ So, my mission was finding out ‘How much do people looove Mochi’!

It is always hard work to prepare food for selling but Making Japanese sweets is very time consuming work and I wasn’t sure I how could be ready until the actual Market day. When I have a stall in a food market I normally prepare all kinds of Japanese sweets but this time I could concentrate on creating different flavours for Mochi and that was a good thing for me.

 

‘Mochi Heaven’ Stall in a Food Market

These sweets in the photo were the main line-ups on my stall.

CE Market2-2

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Mochi Stall in a Market

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I have an announcement. This became rather short notice but I have just decided to have a stall in a local Market this Sunday.

 

Never Too ‘Mochi’ Stall in Crouch End

My stall will be in the Food Market as a part of the Crouch End Festival. The Crouch End Festival is actually the biggest community festival in the whole Britain which lasts over a week in this villege-like community of North London. It consists of all sorts of entertainment such as music, open air films, art and even a Zombie walk as well as all kinds of food. This year we are going to have a performance of the world famous Crouch End Festival Chorus too. The Food Market is normally held in the Green square in front of the ‘secretly famous’ Hornsey Town Hall (this special building has been used as a film/TV location for such as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘Killing Eve’) which is the central part of this community, but this year the venue will be set in a nearby ‘Stationers Park’ due to the building development work.

I had a stall in this festival several years ago serving all sorts of Japanese sweets. However, this time I wanted to try serving mainly ‘Mochi’ as it has recently became one of the most favourite Japanese sweets for British people lately. I hear so many people saying ‘I love Mochi!’ but I don’t know how much they love it. Although I am a little anxious whether many Mochi lovers would turn up to my stall, I am going to bet it will be great.

Mochi1

 

Heavenly Mochi Stall in the Food Market

  • at : Stationers Park, Mayfield Rd, London N8 9LP
  • on: the 9th of June (Sun), 11:30 –

I know the venue is not the easiest location to reach if you are not from this area but if you love Mochi, please come to try mine at my stall.

I have been planning to make Mochi in several different flavours and this Polar Bear below is one of the Mochi which is likely to be on the Mochi Stall. If you readers can tell me what your favourite flavour for Mochi is it will be a great help to me!

Mochi2

Hope to see many people turn up there on the 9th of June. See you on Sunday!😊