[Tokyo] Hiranoya Sweet Beans 平野屋 甘納豆

Like my FACEBOOK PAGE or follow me on TWITTER / 微博!

平野屋

Address: 東京都墨田区東駒形3-22-7
Tel: 03-3622-5244
Hours: 9:00am~7:00pm (~6:00pm on Sunday)
Tasted on: 2012-03-23

I know, I know, these are not the prettiest thing you’ve seen all week, but these little beans are quite delicious! If you can read Japanese, scroll to the bottom of this page for an introduction on Hiranoya, the shop where I got these Japanese sweet beans from. If you can’t read Japanese, here’s the gist: Hiranoya is a sweet bean specialty store in Tokyo, originally started by the father of current shop owner Takashiba-san. Through trial-and-error, Takashiba-san has improved his father’s creations, and developed tailored cooking methods for each type of bean to produce the perfect taste and texture. All colors are natural,  no additives are used.

Without further ado,  here are the beans.

The packaging I got included two types of beans: お多福甘納豆 made from broad beans, and 大納言甘納豆 made from adzuki beans. Different textures, both very sweet, definitely need a cup of tea with these.

Continue Reading "[Tokyo] Hiranoya Sweet Beans 平野屋 甘納豆"
[Tokyo] Toraya Yokan 虎屋羊羹

Like my FACEBOOK PAGE or follow me on TWITTER / 微博!

Toraya 虎屋

Address*: Galleria B1F, Tokyo Midtown, D-B117, 9-7-4 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Tel: +81-3-5413-3541
Hours: 11:00am-9:00pm
Website: www.toraya-group.co.jp
Tasted on: 2011-03-23

I love Toraya yokan for its meticulous packaging and meticulous taste. What is yokan? A thick jellied dessert made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar. Very sweet, perfect with a cup of Japanese tea. The particular variety I had was named 夜の梅 (night plum), though there are other yokan varities available in store and on Toraya website. For more information on Toraya, read my post on Toraya monaka.

Continue Reading "[Tokyo] Toraya Yokan 虎屋羊羹"