Sweets ── Wagashi (Japanese sweets)
Oshiruko
Oshiruko — a soupier bowl of sweet red bean broth with mochi
A soupier, sweetened red-bean broth, strained smooth, with mochi or rice dumplings sunk in the bowl. In Kansai it specifically means a smooth-paste soup, while in Kanto the word can cover sweet red-bean dishes more broadly — the line drawn against zenzai is said to shift by region.
- Other styles
What it's made of
Red beans simmered soft, strained to remove the skins, sweetened, and left soupy, with grilled mochi or rice dumplings sunk into the bowl. In Kansai this smooth-paste version is what the word specifically refers to. The fineness of the sieve used to strain the paste changes the mouthfeel, said to be where a maker's craft in pursuing smoothness shows. Because straining takes real effort, some shops are said to simplify the process by leaving in a bit of texture on purpose.
How it's made
Red beans are simmered and then strained through a sieve to separate skin from pulp, yielding a smooth paste. Sugar is added and the mixture kept soupy, ladled into a bowl with mochi or rice dumplings floated on top. A pinch of salt is sometimes added at the end. Rice dumplings or crisp rice crackers are sometimes sunk in instead of mochi, the choice of add-in said to become each shop's own signature. Canned and retort-pouch versions have also spread, making it a standard winter treat easily warmed up at home.
Why it took this shape
One account holds that soupy red-bean sweets have long been made across the country, but that the custom of calling the smooth-paste version "oshiruko" and the chunky-paste version "zenzai" settled into place in Kansai. In Kanto, by contrast, "oshiruko" can cover even a chunky, soupy version — the same word still carrying a different range of meaning by region. It is said to remain a staple menu item at sweets shops and wagashi stores through the cold months, still served widely today.
Before you go
- How to shop in a depachika (department store food hall)A guide to browsing prepared foods and bento, choosing wagashi as a gift with a good shelf life, sampling etiquette, end-of-day discounts, asking for cold packs and wrapping, and finding your way around a depachika floor.
- Enjoying a bussanten (regional products fair)A guide to what's sold at a bussanten (regional products fair), how to find one, when it gets crowded, shelf life and taking food home, and how to fit one around a trip.
- Izakaya customsFrom the small starter dish called otoshi, the classic "for now, a draft beer" first order, ordering a little at a time, choosing tare or shio for yakitori, soy sauce dishes, a closing course, and last orders and smoking rules.
Dishes in the same style
- MonakaCrisp wafer shells made from glutinous rice, sandwiching sweet bean paste. Said to take its name from the phrase "mochizuki no monaka" — the midst of the full moon — in a Heian-era poetry anthology, its round wafer likened to the moon itself.
- Nama YatsuhashiThe same yatsuhashi dough left unbaked and steamed instead, giving a soft, chewy sweet. Folded triangular versions filled with bean paste became the standard, and a 1960 tea gathering is said to have been the occasion that spread it as a Kyoto confection.