Japanese Pudding & Jelly

Although Japan has been making a jelly dessert called yokan for over a thousand years (right??), both jellies and puddings as we know them today were created in the 17th century. This is when agar—the seaweed gelatin was discovered for jellies. For pudding, Portuguese traders introduced eggs, milk, and butter. But it would take until the 20th century before pudding was specifically affordable for everyone.

During the Meiji Era (1868-1912), Japan was finally opened to trading with the world. Suddenly, ingredients that used to be very expensive, like sugar, were now available to people outside the nobility.

Dairy products, however, were still out of reach for many, so pudding was a fancy dessert available in restaurants. The Meiji period was a time of discovery and innovation, with people always creating fun food fusions. Of course, the most classic pudding flavor, caramel, came out of this period and is still strong today.

Jellies are clear in color and can be flavored with anything from fruits, tea, coffee or plain clear sugar. Remember when water drop cake was a big thing? That’s a clear jelly made with agar gelatin sprinkled with roasted soybean powder called kinako.

But people have been getting creative with jellies for hundreds of years, with some versions looking like works of art thanks to the flavors and designs suspended inside. There was even a special Mt. Fuji jelly that was released in 2019 in bright blue and white.