Anmitsu (, rarely ) is a ''

wagashi is traditional Japanese confectionery, typically made using plant-based ingredients and with an emphasis on seasonality. ''Wagashi'' generally makes use of cooking methods that pre-date Western influence in Japan. It is often served with green ...

''和菓子屋の角カップあんみつ黒糖
/ref> (Japanese

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

) that dates to the Meiji era. It is made of small cubes of

agar Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from " ogonori" and " tengusa". As found in nature, agar is a mixture of two components, t ...

jelly, a white translucent jelly made from

red alga Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), make up one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta comprises one of the largest Phylum, phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 recognized species within over 900 Genus, genera amidst ongoing taxon ...

e. The agar is dissolved with

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

(or

fruit juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such ...

such as apple juice) to make the jelly. It is served in a bowl with sweet azuki bean paste or '' anko'' (the ''an'' part of ''anmitsu''), boiled

pea Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum' ...

s, often '' gyūhi'' and a variety of

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s such as

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

slices, ''

mikan ''Citrus unshiu'' is a semi-seedless and easy-peeling citrus species, also known as the satsuma mandarin or Japanese mandarin. During the Edo period of Japan, kishu mikans were more popular because there was a popular superstition that eating '' ...

'', pieces of

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

s, and/or

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...

. The anmitsu usually comes with a small pot of sweet black syrup, or ''mitsu'' (the ''mitsu'' part of ''anmitsu'') which one pours onto the jelly before eating. Anmitsu is usually eaten with a spoon and fork. A few variations on this dessert do exist. Mitsumame is anmitsu without bean paste, the ''mame'' meaning the peas that are served with the syrup and agar jelly instead. Cream anmitsu is anmitsu with

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

on top. Shiratama dango are also commonly used as toppings.

References

{{reflist Wagashi

See also

References