Japan is well-known for its food culture, regional dishes, and its variety of seasonal foods.
Autumn is one of the most awaited seasons that also brings, like any other season, a lot of limited-edition seasonal dishes and beverages.
As a fan of sweet potato, chestnuts, pumpkin, and everything that screams "autumn" I am looking forward to it every year thinking of what new dishes I can try next.
Here are some of the gourmet dishes and beautifully decorated seasonal sweets you can savor during this period in Japan:
The Momiji Manju has the shape of a maple leaf and has a red bean paste filling inside. You may find it during festivals, events, in some stores, but also Hiroshima Prefecture.
Seasonal Sweets
There are so many traditional sweets(wagashi), such as mochi or manju.
The fillings can be sweet potatoes, kaki(persimmons), apples; their appearance, too, looks adorable and during this season, they look like painted in the reds, yellows, and oranges hues of autumn.
The traditional sweets are also good complements to green tea. The bitterness of the tea and sweetness of the wagashi make them a perfect pairing.
Recently, I went to a tea ceremony, and I got to choose from a few types of wagashi. All were adorable, but I picked a manju that had a small red dragonfly imprinted on it! How cute is that?
One of my most favorite sweets during this season are dried persimmons. I like using them while baking as they are rich in flavor, but also eat it while drinking hot tea.
Pacific Saury (Sanma/さんま)
I am a big fan of camping and I also make BBQs a couple of times per month. The autumn ones are my most favorites and the pacific saury is a must on my list.
It is most delicious eaten during this season and goes perfect with some freshly made sweet potato rice bowl!
I like putting a bit of salt to turn it into the popular autumn dish "Sanma no shioyaki"/ grilled with salt and enjoy a peaceful time and a great momiji (autumn leaves) view.
Yakiimo
Yakiimo means roasted sweet potato and it is a very filling snack also super popular this season!
Oden is low in calories, and I always like to eat it as a snack or instead of dinner.
The broth is usually soy flavored and there are so many ingredients you can pick!
My personal favorites are konnyaku(konjac), daikon (Japanese radish), cabbage rolls (as it reminds me of a traditional dish from my country), and hanpen(white and soft surimi product usually made of fish paste).
Oden can be found everywhere and can also be made easily at home!
Mushrooms
I was surprised to see how many varieties of mushrooms Japan has! Mushrooms are a perfect ingredient for this period of the year!
I recommend trying out the matsutake mushrooms! You can either grill it, make matsutake gohan (matsutake rice), soup, even ramen!
Japan is well-known for its food culture, regional dishes, and its variety of seasonal foods. Autumn is one of the most awaited seasons that also brings, like any other season, a lot of limited-edition seasonal dishes and beverages.
As a fan of sweet potato, chestnuts, pumpkin, and everything that screams "autumn" I am looking forward to it every year thinking of what new dishes I can try next.
Here are some of the gourmet dishes and beautifully decorated seasonal sweets you can savor during this period in Japan:
Momiji Manju
The Momiji Manju has the shape of a maple leaf and has a red bean paste filling inside. You may find it during festivals, events, in some stores, but also Hiroshima Prefecture.
Seasonal Sweets
There are so many traditional sweets(wagashi), such as mochi or manju.
The fillings can be sweet potatoes, kaki(persimmons), apples; their appearance, too, looks adorable and during this season, they look like painted in the reds, yellows, and oranges hues of autumn.
The traditional sweets are also good complements to green tea. The bitterness of the tea and sweetness of the wagashi make them a perfect pairing.
Recently, I went to a tea ceremony, and I got to choose from a few types of wagashi. All were adorable, but I picked a manju that had a small red dragonfly imprinted on it! How cute is that?
Dried persimmons
One of my most favorite sweets during this season are dried persimmons. I like using them while baking as they are rich in flavor, but also eat it while drinking hot tea.
Pacific Saury (Sanma/さんま)
I am a big fan of camping and I also make BBQs a couple of times per month. The autumn ones are my most favorites and the pacific saury is a must on my list.
It is most delicious eaten during this season and goes perfect with some freshly made sweet potato rice bowl!
I like putting a bit of salt to turn it into the popular autumn dish "Sanma no shioyaki"/ grilled with salt and enjoy a peaceful time and a great momiji (autumn leaves) view.
Yakiimo
Yakiimo means roasted sweet potato and it is a very filling snack also super popular this season!
Oden
Oden is low in calories, and I always like to eat it as a snack or instead of dinner.
The broth is usually soy flavored and there are so many ingredients you can pick!
My personal favorites are konnyaku(konjac), daikon (Japanese radish), cabbage rolls (as it reminds me of a traditional dish from my country), and hanpen(white and soft surimi product usually made of fish paste).
Oden can be found everywhere and can also be made easily at home!
Mushrooms
I was surprised to see how many varieties of mushrooms Japan has! Mushrooms are a perfect ingredient for this period of the year!
I recommend trying out the matsutake mushrooms! You can either grill it, make matsutake gohan (matsutake rice), soup, even ramen!
What is your favorite autumn food?