A new, limited-time item at the time, Lotteria's Green Tea Red Bean (Azuki) Pie (disclaimer: the name's a guess on my part) caught the eye of my cousin's wife so we tried one for 150 yen (~$1.70 US).
As you can see, it's a deep-fried, turnover-style pie similar to KFC's and McDonald's of old (or of Asia where they're still available). The fried dough is mixed with green tea, which gave it a green tinge but no noticeable green tea flavor. The crust was nice and crispy.
The filling was molten hot... it's a good thing I didn't take the first bite... That's what guinea pigs are for!
The azuki (sweetened red bean paste) in the middle was delicious. We guessed that the little white chunks were chestnuts (Update: Oops! They were mochi (rice flour) balls.) They did throw a little bit of texture into the mix but that's about it.
This last picture shows the inside of a Lotteria:
If you look way in the back in the last booth, you'll see a guy catching some zzzs... You can't see it but he was wearing a suit.
People in Japan seem to nap anywhere they can get it! Okay, not anywhere... but definitely in fast food restaurants and the subway. In one of the fancier convenience stores (think Whole Foods but 7-Eleven-sized), there was a seating area where you could sit down and eat. Of about nine tables, two or three had people napping on them. I never got used to the novelty of the rampant napping for the week I was in Japan.
The Japanese on the poster says "An Mochi Matcha Pai". Your guessed translation is essentially spot on! I am guessing the outer shell is from same flour base dough as used for mochi. Matcha is green tea grounded up in powder and frequently used for sweets in Japan. Pai is....well, a pie!
ReplyDelete@Anon: Sweet! My guessing skills are great! Except for the whole chestnuts thing... I guess they are mochi balls inside.
ReplyDeleteGreen tea red bean pie? Wow that is really delicious. I do not how to cook but I definitely know how to distinguish delicious foods from not. Please keep posting in here.
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