Round 5 - Top 20 Popular Desserts in Japan!

[raie]

Guidelines

• Watch the youtube video linked.
• You are not required to watch the entire video if you're not enjoying it, but at least a few minutes so you can get an idea.
• Share whatever opinions you have about the video!
• Try to post at least a few sentences.

Reward: 2 random cards

This Round
https://youtu.be/OKkFcq2hahk
Video Length: 10:13

My thoughts:
There are some desserts I didn't even know they existed in Japan. Banana Sushi? The way they're prepared and a lot of different varieties make me want to make some-up. Coffee Jelly is a knew one for me, I'm not a huge coffee drinker but that looks don't right good!

[Elijah]

CANDIED SWEET POTATO LOOKS SO GOOD... we have something similar to daigaku imo in mexican cooking called camotes enmielados so i wonder how they compare flavor-wise! clearly i need to get both and see for myself. i like how many culinary traditions use different kinds of sweet potato. sweet potato pie is another really good dessert that uses sweet potato! i love sweet potato desserts.
come to think of it, america also has that sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top? my family never makes it so i've only tried it like....once, but a lot of my friends say it's a thanksgiving staple for them. it's really interesting that it's served as part of the meal and not a dessert, even if the marshmallows make it more sweet than camotes enmielados/daigaku imo/sweet potato pie.

[Kayori]

I'm from Japan, and I've never seen many of these desserts. Thanks a lot for this fake presentation of my country

Some of the stuff does look good, however I'm more concered about one of the top comments. A lot of the desserts included look like something some bored person made, not particularly from Japan either. Most of those "banana sushi" were sliced banana, with chocolate syrup or Nutella, wrapped in tortillas.

[raie]

I'm from Japan, and I've never seen many of these desserts. Thanks a lot for this fake presentation of my country

Some of the stuff does look good, however I'm more concered about one of the top comments. A lot of the desserts included look like something some bored person made, not particularly from Japan either. Most of those "banana sushi" were sliced banana, with chocolate syrup or Nutella, wrapped in tortillas.

Oh! I didn't see that, I'd def. be looking at comments when I'm browsing videos!

[Jun]

So im going to say this; a lot of these are fake and iritatingly so. Banana sushi is not something popular in japan at all lol. and I gotta say, these look very western in presentation. slicing a banana doesnt make it sushi, it makes it a cut banana. So that one is off the table already.

Green Tea Cookie/Green Tea Ice Cream is kinda another 'western' thing, not to say it wouldnt be popular in japan, but the idea that "green tea/matcha anything" is popular. Its like saying "chocolate" is popular. So it feels like a real fake 'its popular cause its green tea' type thing. Again, thats like saying Chocoalte pound cake, cocolate cookies, chocolate cake ect are popular in the west. If I were to say a popular cookie for japan, is honestly probably short bread cookies. That and like your general Chocolate Chip tbh.

Another false one; Rice Krispies anything. Rice Krispie/Treats is not something in japan period. You might be able to find the cereal or the treats in import stores, but its not a treat there like at all.

In general; japan is not really big on making non-sushi sushi and not everything is matcha based. I saw Kayori mention that comment of 'fake presentation', and I 100% agree. These look like they were taken from a mom's food blog of cute japanese food ideas for a book club without knowing much on japan.

Some things they mention but i think not so much popular but more "these are sweets they have in japan, wacky huh" type. Like yes Rain drop cake is neat but not actually hyper common imo, or what id say a popular dessert. Anko is more of a filling then something you eat by itself. Though i will say Castella Bread/Roll Cakes ect? very popular and common 100% Thats like the easiest dessert/snack you can find in any store. I guess its not 100% common and everyone has eaten or tried, but just popular, so sure why not for some of these. Just those few that you can even tell with their comments is pure BS tho. (Japan likes bananas, so why not? Japan is crafty with sushi so maybe this too? ect)

[Elijah]

So im going to say this; a lot of these are fake and iritatingly so. Banana sushi is not something popular in japan at all lol. and I gotta say, these look very western in presentation. slicing a banana doesnt make it sushi, it makes it a cut banana. So that one is off the table already.

Green Tea Cookie/Green Tea Ice Cream is kinda another 'western' thing, not to say it wouldnt be popular in japan, but the idea that "green tea/matcha anything" is popular. Its like saying "chocolate" is popular. So it feels like a real fake 'its popular cause its green tea' type thing. Again, thats like saying Chocoalte pound cake, cocolate cookies, chocolate cake ect are popular in the west. If I were to say a popular cookie for japan, is honestly probably short bread cookies. That and like your general Chocolate Chip tbh.

Another false one; Rice Krispies anything. Rice Krispie/Treats is not something in japan period. You might be able to find the cereal or the treats in import stores, but its not a treat there like at all.

In general; japan is not really big on making non-sushi sushi and not everything is matcha based. I saw Kayori mention that comment of 'fake presentation', and I 100% agree. These look like they were taken from a mom's food blog of cute japanese food ideas for a book club without knowing much on japan.

Some things they mention but i think not so much popular but more "these are sweets they have in japan, wacky huh" type. Like yes Rain drop cake is neat but not actually hyper common imo, or what id say a popular dessert. Anko is more of a filling then something you eat by itself. Though i will say Castella Bread/Roll Cakes ect? very popular and common 100% Thats like the easiest dessert/snack you can find in any store. I guess its not 100% common and everyone has eaten or tried, but just popular, so sure why not for some of these. Just those few that you can even tell with their comments is pure BS tho. (Japan likes bananas, so why not? Japan is crafty with sushi so maybe this too? ect)

yeah i was wondering about that because i was like, rice krispie treats seem SUPER american to me (and putting gummy candy on it as well?), as does making non-sushi things and calling it sushi? like with the bananas it makes more sense to just make a chocobanana instead of trying to make it look like rolled sushi... the daigaku imo looked more like camotes enmielados in the video so i feel like they got the wrong potato too. it definitely made me google the proper potato dish and get hungry though, since it's something i've been wanting to try for a while!

[Caitlin]

OK, this is going to be long, so I don't blame you if you don't read it all.

The banana "sushi" looks sooo good, I've actually seen this on Pinterest and have been wanting to make something like it for awhile! You can do so many things with it, and it's not that bad for you!

Purin looks like flan, and now that I'm reading the caption it IS similar to flan.

Coffee jelly looks pretty good, too!!! I'm not a big coffee drinker but those as ice cubes in coffee if you froze them I bet would taste delicious!

I'm not sure how I feel about matcha.... I've had iced green tea and love it, but I know it's not the same as matcha, especially the true Japanese one - not the fake stuff Starbucks gives us.

The rice krispies candy sushi looks good, too! You can't go wrong with rice krispies and I love how they used a swedish fish candy to mimic real fish.
Green tea ice cream is always something I've wanted to try, but like I said.....not sure how I feel about matcha.
Candied sweet potatoes?! Sweet potatoes is one of my favorite vegetables (if you can call it a vegetable)... I love them just baked and I'm sure I'd love these too! The caption said something about "root crop" and I read "root crap" at first and I was like "well that's not nice!" Then read it again. I feel like this is the Japanese version of when Americans put marshmallows on sweet potatoes, but better.

:O That raindrop cake LOOKS AMAZING! I would never want to cut it!!

Those dorayaki pancakes also look PERFECT!!

My sister eats mochi....Not sure if she's had green tea mochi but she loves it in general!

Mmmmm, cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts, and that Japanese cheesecake is so fluffy and big, I want it!! Especially with the Hello Kitty shaped dusting on it!

I would love to cook souffle pancakes!!! I feel like they'd impress my family!

We have sesame seed cookies here, too! They're my dad's favorite type of cookie!

I've seen on a Kids edition of a Baking show where they all had to make a roll cake! Some turned out amazing, some....not so much. I imagine it's super hard to make, just from watching those kids!!

That honey cake looks FANTASTIC! I am absolutely getting so hungry just watching these!! Probably should've eaten breakfast before watching this, LOL!!

That was a really fun video to watch!

[raie]

Elijah: There are a lot of good sweets in the his vid. I am not a huge fan of sweet potatos however I've had sweet potato waffles fries that one time Arby's had them and they were decent so I'm not sure if I'm the good source of knowing how good sweet potato is whether its in a pie or not.

Food Network: salad15, sunflowerseed08

Kayori: You know, I'll probably most likely look at viewers comments from now on to see how receptive the video is from now on.

Food Network: cheeseball14, timhortons16

Jun It was the banana sushi that pulled me in, I took advice from my two year cause she saw that bananas and wanted the bananas.

Food Network: bloomingtea01, cannoli13

Caitlin: I thought the Coffee jelly looked good too! And the cheesecake is most likely one of the most popular desserts they have in Japan.

Food Network: benandjerrys13, chorizo14

[Kayori]

So im going to say this; a lot of these are fake and iritatingly so. Banana sushi is not something popular in japan at all lol. and I gotta say, these look very western in presentation. slicing a banana doesnt make it sushi, it makes it a cut banana. So that one is off the table already.

Green Tea Cookie/Green Tea Ice Cream is kinda another 'western' thing, not to say it wouldnt be popular in japan, but the idea that "green tea/matcha anything" is popular. Its like saying "chocolate" is popular. So it feels like a real fake 'its popular cause its green tea' type thing. Again, thats like saying Chocoalte pound cake, cocolate cookies, chocolate cake ect are popular in the west. If I were to say a popular cookie for japan, is honestly probably short bread cookies. That and like your general Chocolate Chip tbh.

Another false one; Rice Krispies anything. Rice Krispie/Treats is not something in japan period. You might be able to find the cereal or the treats in import stores, but its not a treat there like at all.

In general; japan is not really big on making non-sushi sushi and not everything is matcha based. I saw Kayori mention that comment of 'fake presentation', and I 100% agree. These look like they were taken from a mom's food blog of cute japanese food ideas for a book club without knowing much on japan.

Some things they mention but i think not so much popular but more "these are sweets they have in japan, wacky huh" type. Like yes Rain drop cake is neat but not actually hyper common imo, or what id say a popular dessert. Anko is more of a filling then something you eat by itself. Though i will say Castella Bread/Roll Cakes ect? very popular and common 100% Thats like the easiest dessert/snack you can find in any store. I guess its not 100% common and everyone has eaten or tried, but just popular, so sure why not for some of these. Just those few that you can even tell with their comments is pure BS tho. (Japan likes bananas, so why not? Japan is crafty with sushi so maybe this too? ect)

Rice Krispie candy sushi definitely made me go "No", almost immediately and I'm not Japanese, nor do I live there. It looks like something you'd make in the US for a toddler or child, because you don't want them eating raw fish. Little do they know though, most sushi served in the US at places like buffets are fully cooked. It's why I hate getting sushi at buffets, I'd rather have something more "authentic" so to speak. Plus sushi at buffets sit there for too long, the rice is always so hard. lmao

[Jamie]

CANDIED SWEET POTATO LOOKS SO GOOD... we have something similar to daigaku imo in mexican cooking called camotes enmielados so i wonder how they compare flavor-wise! clearly i need to get both and see for myself. i like how many culinary traditions use different kinds of sweet potato. sweet potato pie is another really good dessert that uses sweet potato! i love sweet potato desserts.
come to think of it, america also has that sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top? my family never makes it so i've only tried it like....once, but a lot of my friends say it's a thanksgiving staple for them. it's really interesting that it's served as part of the meal and not a dessert, even if the marshmallows make it more sweet than camotes enmielados/daigaku imo/sweet potato pie.

I had never even heard of camotes enmielados but it sounds good. I've been afraid to try sweet potato type foods because my first experience were sweet potato fries which I didn't care for, but I could be convinced with other dishes. I only know the southern candied yams / candied sweet potatos with the marshmallows. Looking up and comparing the ingredients in Daigaku Imo (rice vinegar, soy sauce) compared to camotes enmielados would definitely have a different set of flavors! It would be fun to make all 3 of these decks. Looking this all up made me deep dive sweet potatos and yams.

So im going to say this; a lot of these are fake and iritatingly so. Banana sushi is not something popular in japan at all lol. and I gotta say, these look very western in presentation. slicing a banana doesnt make it sushi, it makes it a cut banana. So that one is off the table already.

I pretty much agree with the entire post. Never been to Japan, but I am from Japan's neighbor the Philippines. I'm intimately familiar with Asian grocery stores, I used to run one with my mom and I still regularly shop at my local mom & pop places, and having done *extensive* reading of dishes from different countries for the tcg, a large portion of that list is definitely not authentic. Many of the flavor profiles in those desserts don't align with things you'd commonly find in Asian cuisine, not even just Japan. Green tea is common yes, but green tea-flavored things has become the trendy "oriental" flavoring in America for a lot of things. Looking up the dishes mentioned, some of the images in the video come directly from American food bloggers.

The video had so much focus on "Japan-themed" sweets rather than authentic desserts. But they missed a HUGE one imo, you see it in tons of tv shows/movies/anime/games... and if that doesn't scream popular I don't know what does: Strawberry shortcake! A decidedly western dessert, but Japan has adopted it and made it their own.

The entire video could have even covered the types of wagashi even, the list is so extensive.

Rice Krispie candy sushi definitely made me go "No", almost immediately and I'm not Japanese, nor do I live there. It looks like something you'd make in the US for a toddler or child, because you don't want them eating raw fish. Little do they know though, most sushi served in the US at places like buffets are fully cooked. It's why I hate getting sushi at buffets, I'd rather have something more "authentic" so to speak. Plus sushi at buffets sit there for too long, the rice is always so hard. lmao

You know I had never really thought about sushi from buffets being fully cooked but now that I think about it you're right! I suspect they are probably afraid of people getting sick with raw fish left out. But it's an interesting observation. Tfw the only sushi I like is definitely a western-style one (volcano roll). I am not a big fish eater but that is the one I can tolerate.