わがし is a term used to describe traditional Japanese confectionary. Today’s we’ll look at four different types of わがし.

あんみつ is a Japanese dessert composed of white translucent jelly made from seaweed. A small pot of sweet black syrup called みつ is poured over the jelly. Usually a sweet bean paste called あんこ and some fruits like peaches, cherries, grapes and orange slices are mixed together in this dessert. There is also a form of this dessert called みつまめ. みつまめ is あんみつ, but without the red bean paste.

あまなっとう is made of アズキ beans and covered with sugar. あまなっとう is basically a snack of cooked and sweetened beans. In other words, candied beans. The beans are soaked in water beforehand for extra softness. Some people just eat the あまなっとう by itself, or on top of ice cream and other desserts. There are even recipes online that can show you how to make this at home.

羊羹 (ようかん) is a type of jelly made of red bean paste, sugar and agar. Agar is made from seaweed. There are different kinds of ようかん, but the common type of ようかん contains ingredients like sweet potato paste, chestnuts, figs, brown sugar or honey. There are also ようかん made from white kidney beans 白餡 (しろあん) instead of red bean paste. The しろあん is milder in taste (green tea flavored) than the ようかん.

やつはし is made from a rice flour called ようしんこ. It is cinnamon flavored and coated with sugar. The やつはし is first made from dough that is flattened and cut into long rectangular strips. Then they are baked and cooled. Sometimes people eat やつはし as a snack with some red bean paste. やつはし is a popular みやげがし or “souvenir sweet” bought by tourists who come to きょうと.