Celebrate summer with this delightful Japanese dessert called Anmitsu! It’s a Japanese wagashi dessert with agar agar jelly, fruits, mochi, red bean paste, green tea ice cream and a good drizzle of sweet black sugar syrup.
Anmitsu (あんみつ) is a summer dessert (but why don’t we enjoy all year around?) made of small cubes of agar agar jelly, sweet azuki bean paste, mochi, a variety of fruits, ice cream, and boiled peas. It’s usually served with black sugar syrup called kuromitu that you pour onto the jelly before eating.
Watch How to Make Anmitsu あんみつの作り方
Delightful Japanese wagashi dessert with agar agar, fruits, red bean paste, green tea ice cream, and drizzled with kuromitsu.
What’s included in Anmitsu:
Agar agar jelly (kanten): Agar or agar agar is a white translucent jelly made of seaweed, which is suitable for vegetarian/vegan diet instead of animal/chemical-base gelatin.
Sweet red bean paste (anko): As you may know, majority of wagashi (Japanese confectionery) includes sweet red bean paste. It’s a crucial part of anmitsu (coming from anko)
Mochi: This type of mochi is called shiratama dango, and it’s a classic Japanese sweet dumpling. It’s made of glutinous rice flour. They are chewy and soft at the same time.
Green tea ice cream: You can use vanilla ice cream instead, but I wouldn’t recommend other flavors of ice cream to avoid conflict in flavors.
A variety of fruits: You can pick your favorite fruits to go with anmitsu.
Red endomame peas: Anmitsu is topped with these boiled and chilled peas. These specific peas could be hard to find. I took a short cut and used these peas from a canned Fruits Mitsumame.
Black sugar syrup (kuromitsu sauce): This is another crucial part of anmitsu (coming from kuromitsu). This syrup is usually made of Okinawan black sugar.
Imagine. Enjoy putting mouthfuls of these delicious items from the bowl… Despite all the differences in texture and flavors, this dessert represents quintessentially Japanese harmony, where everything works together. It doesn’t take too long to prepare, especially if you can purchase sweet red bean paste, kuromitsu, and green tea ice cream (but trust me, homemade is SOOO good!).
After making 4 videos (anmitsu, agar agar jelly, shiratama dango, and green tea ice cream) and writing 10 NEW pages for my How To page and Kitchen Pantry page just for this Anmitsu post, I’m so ready to hit “Publish” and share this post!
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- 1 batch Agar Agar Jelly (Kanten)
- 1 batch Shiratama Dango (Mochi)
- 6 Tbsp red bean paste (anko) (See Notes for homemade recipe)
- 6 scoops green tea ice cream (or vanilla ice cream)
- strawberries
- banana
- kiwis
- kuromitsu (brown sugar syrup)
- Boiled red endomame peas (optional)
- Please note that we can prepare everything but Shiratama Dango ahead of time. If you cannot purchase sweetened red beans, green tea ice cream, kuromitsu at a Japanese grocery store, you can find the recipe link in the ingredient section above.
- Make Agar Agar Jelly. (10 mins)
- Make Shiratama Dango. (15 mins)
- Cut fruits into bite-sized pieces. Divide agar agar jelly, fruits, shiratama dango, sweet red bean paste, and ice cream evenly into serving bowls. Serve with kuromitsu on the side.
Prep and cook time: This is for preparing agar agar jelly and shiratama dango and for assembling anmitsu only (assuming that the rest is either purchased or prepared ahead of time).
Red bean paste (anko): Homemade recipe, click here.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Anmitsu Trivia
This is just a trivia for those who want to know a little bit more about anmitsu. Anmitsu recipe actually evolved through different periods of time and this agar agar jelly dessert has many variations now.
It started as mitsumame (みつ豆).
mitsumame = agar agar jelly + black sugar syrup (mitsu) + red endomame peas (mame)
mitsumame + fruits = Fruits Mitsumame.
mitsumame + shiratama dango = Shiratama Mitsumame
mitsumame + ice ceam = Cream Mitsumame
mitsumame + sweet red bean paste (anko) = Anmitsu
mitsumame + sweet red bean paste (anko) + ice cream = Cream Anmitsu.
mitsumame + sweet red bean paste (anko) + ice cream + shiratama dango = Shiratama Cream Anmitsu
mitsumame + sweet red bean paste (anko) + ice cream + shiratama dango + fruits = Fruits Shiratama Cream Anmitsu (and that’s this recipe!).
Hope you enjoy! Thanks so much for reading!
What a varied combination of ingredients and tastes.
oh gosh….so refreshing and yummy looking!! You’re also amazing ^_^ Thanks for sharing dear Nami 🙂
Wow, a lot of work went into this post! And we appreciate your efforts. I’ve not heard of this, but it looks wonderful. I can see why this is a nice summer dessert — so refreshing — but I’d want to eat it throughout the year!
All I can say is WOW! Your presentation too is always stunning! Love !
You have been one busy lady! I need to hire your husband to help me with videos, too! Everything looks beautiful, as all of your food is stunning works of art.
Wow – this is simply gorgeous, Nami! Just beautiful to look at and I can imagine the harmony of flavors and textures. Stunning…your hard work shows but yet it seems effortless…
You are one super woman, Nami! I can tell it is a quite of work to get all the ingredient ready to creat this lovely dessert. What a creation!
Nami, what a fun and colorful dessert! Love that it’s made with lots of fresh fruit – that’s my favorite kind of dessert!
I’m a mochi fan! I would probably put a lot of mochi in there.
I love the look of this dessert, Nami. And yeah, why can’t we enjoy it year round.:) Now I need to find some agar agar to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
P.S. I love your photos from the Taiwan trip.
I really love you did a post like this. This dessert was fave with my father and he would of have love for me to try and re create it from your recipe. SO stunning with all those colours. Nami; I would gladly be at your place every night for this.
素敵！京都のお寺の近い品質カフェで食べられるものと全く同じいだと思います。なみさんのご家族はラッキーですね。
The weather here recently has been so hot, this would be absolutely perfect! I really love the colour and combination of ingredients 🙂
A delightful and beautiful dessert! Lovely video.
Cheers,
Rosa
Hi! I love anmitsu! Your photos are superb! I’ve made anmitsu a couple times, but instead of red endomame I’ve used sweet kuromame, but I’d like to use “the original” red endomame some time. Do you happen to know what they are called in English or what kind of a pea species they are? There are no “red peas” here in Finland: the only red peas/beans are azuki and kidney beans. I’ve tasted them twice, but can’t really remember their taste. What would you suggest as a substitute? Thanks!
Hi Yukiko! I tried to look for English name but couldn’t find it. Endomame is “split pea” in dictionary, but I’m not 100% sure if it’s correct. So I wrote it “red endomame peas” in the post. I would use azuki beans for substitute if you like – since there is anko in the topping, the flavor isn’t too off. I used red endomame from a canned fruits mitsumame. It’s pretty common in a Japanese supermarket that you may be able to find. You end up with agar agar and fruits in syrup too though….
Nami, there is a site (https://www.lemoda.net/japan/food/entry/endo-mame) that says that endomame is: Pisum sativum L. (the scientific name for the plant). When looking this up, it seems they are a variety of garden pea with a different color (http://plants.bauercreative.sk/pisum-sativum.php). Pisum sativum (without the L. at the end) is the name for peas, in general: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pea Someone may not be able to find the purple/red variety in certain areas, but if not, it seems as if typical garden peas are very close. A fresh, sweet, plump variety (the sort you might find at a farmer’s market) would likely be a good replacement. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing the information, Oleander!
Looks so beautiful and refreshing, Nami! Very colorful dessert!
It looks and sounds delicious… and so simple!
Ciao
Oh, wow…! What a treat…to my eyes 🙂
I love Anmitsu in summer time, but I can eat it all through year just like you said.
Your green tea ice cream is a nice touch, but I would probably put the soft ice cream in stead.
I used to make Kanten treat as a dessert during summer Gasshuku(合宿-summer camp?） when I was in the high school. It was such an easy thing to make, and it tasted refreshingly good. One thing I couldn’t remember was that if I had to prep. the pan(or dish) before you pour the Kanten. The jelly won’t stick inside the dish, will it?
Your how to video is always easy to understand and fun to watch.
Thanks, Nami-san!
Hi Ayako! Regarding your question about if we need to prepare the baking dish before you pour the kanten… I didn’t use it, but you can soak the dish in water (or run water in baking dish) before you pour kanten. I use that method for purin (cream caramel). As you see in the video, it took a little bit of time for kanten to come out into the bowl, but it didn’t stick. Just need for the air to go in. 🙂 Thank you for watching the video!
This looks fantastic! That green tea ice cream is my favorite.
Such a refreshing and yummy looking treat ! Always adore your pictures and especially your videos. Awesome !
Nami, If I can have a bowl of this during my Birthday, I can leave away the Birthday cake, hehehe..Look absolutely delicious!
What a pretty dessert, it is well presented with so many interesting flavours.
Thank you for this delightful post! Great pictures and a delicious dessert!
Oh good lord! Nami, this looks phenomenal, we are heading to full, warm spring here and this is just perfect. Wishing you a lovely weeken 😉
Wow Nami, this dessert is incredibly beautiful. I simply love all the colours and am so impressed by all the effort that goes into it.
This dessert sounds so interesting – so many flavors and textures. I’ve heard a lot about agar agar, but haven’t tried it yet. I’ll have to look into this a bit! I think this would definitely be a delicious dessert to enjoy on the back patio in the hot summer sun. 🙂 Thank you for sharing this with us and go into such depth. So many videos and new pages! You are incredible Nami. Have a wonderful weekend!
Holy moly, that looks aaaaaamazing!! And your videos are super professional – you guys rock!
Beautiful dessert, Nami! I have never heard about it (but I don’t know Japanese desserts well…). The amount of work you have put into this post and into this dessert is amazing. I will wait for summer fruits to try this unusual complex sweet treat.
Such lovely presentation my friend 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
What a gorgeous and beautiful dessert! I love the video, Nami! I had anmitsu & shiratama dango before and I looooooove sweet azuki bean paste! Awesome that there are different variations for anmitsu! Thank you for sharing this amazing dish – you’ve brought a very memorable one back for me! xx
OMG! this is very new to me! must be something super yummy! gorgeous pictures !!
Dear Nami, you put so much work into this post – respect. Now I do not know where to start to compliment you on this post – the dessert is new to me and it looks amazing. I have never tried my hand at agar agar jelly before but it certainly looks like something I would love to try – now all the different elements of this dessert are wonderful on their own but taken together they are even more special – thank you so much for introducing me to yet another fabulous Japanese dessert – I love to learn about all these dishes when I visit here!
Hope you are enjoying a nice Sunday with your family!
Hi Nami,
This dessert looks so good and so fresh. It gives me the idea to make the agar agar jelly with lychee syrup.
Chantal
ビデオ楽しかったよ。あんみついいよね。大好きだけど、作るの、めちゃ面倒、、、と言ってここら辺で売ってるお店もなく、やはり自分でなんとかしなくてはいけないのでしょうね。 写真がきれいで挑戦したくなるくらい。
Wow! A beautiful dessert and looks so refreshing, just great for the hazy days here….would be so nice to have a bowl right in front of me right now! Got to watch how you made it tonight when I go home.
Oh wow. This has everything you want in an Asian dessert! So beautifully presented. Love agar agar.
It’s so beautiful Nami! The fruit looks so fresh!
We used to called this as es campur or mixed ice in Indonesia,
lovin it with jackfrruit too!!!
Wow – This is impressive.. there are a lot of unknowns for me here.. but you made sure to make it clear for everybody. I am sure it is delicious. Would love to try it too.
Being a vegetarian I make agar agar (kanten) all the time, but I am not so good with dango… I had to re-write dango five times lol, it keeps auto-correcting to dingo!!! hahaha! The desserts looks yum, and I got the same spoons as you 🙂
Don’t we wish it was summer here? Seems so refreshing!
You must be exhausted!! This looks like it would be fun to eat and I love all the textures. Your videos are really great and I always look forward to them.
OMG Nami! What a dessert!!! I’ve never heard of a couple of these components, but they all sound pretty awesome. I’m sitting here looking at the bowl and thinking about how I would go about eating it. It’s definitely a dessert that one savors by slowing eating one bite of each component at a time. I wish this was sitting in front of me right now. thanks!
Nami-san this is a gorgeous dish! Today it is 70 degrees in Hong Kong and I am ready for some cool and refreshing desserts. Bless your heart this one was a lot of work for you. I know the prep-creation part of the actual dish was not so bad but ohh my the work to write up, video tape and edit everything on your site… now thats a lot of work but thanks so much for doing that. Now you deserve at least 2 bowls of anmitsu. Take Care, BAM
What a beautiful and refreshing arrangement Nami! I would love this for dessert – it looks incredible and so mouthwatering 🙂
That dessert looks so refreshing and beautiful. As I was reading the post I thought, “Peas???” You eat the best stuff, Nami!
This looks so great and pleasantly summer! I think I`ve tried something very similar before. All these toppings are just like the ones that goes on top of shaved ice! Yum!
Nami – this is so pretty – it reminds me of Shaved Ice except instead of ice you use agar agar jelly.
The video was so fun!! You guys are a pro! 🙂
I always hanker for this when the weather gets warm! My parents and I used to make kanten and eat it with sweet red beans, or buy those little cans of it from the Japanese supermarket near their house. But I should begin making it! So glad that the weather is getting warmer.
Ooh, I was going to ask when you mentioned it if you had a mochi recipe. My wife will be so pleased! It’s been… well, months since we had them. I find they’re a bit strange if you’ve never had them before but when you’re used to them they’re amazing… incredibly moreish.
The anmitsu looks so lovely Nami – so bright and colourful!
It is always fun to learn something new from your blog posts! This sounds like a fun, delicious Summer treat! Yum, Hugs, Terra
I love this!!! My sweet tooth loves you for all the effort you put into this one recipe, hehe.
My mom uses agar agar in the dry “seaweed” form. It looks like this. http://www.hsaba.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/agaragar.jpg Her recipe is “melt” the agar agar in a cup or two of water. While it is melting/boiling, beat one egg in a bowl for later. Once the agar agar is “melted”, take the mixture off the heat. Add a splash of milk or coconut milk (or any milk really) for a white color. Slowly stir in the egg into the mixture (like how they do in egg drop soup) and then allow to cool. Sometime she makes individual servings so we have to share or if it’s in a big container, she will cut it up into cubes too. I hope you get to try my mom’s version too!
Thank you Stephanie! Yes, I know what your mom uses and I do use it too! We call it bo-kanten (棒寒天) and it’s a square stick. Your mom’s dish sounds so delicious!!!! I have to try it when I go back!
Aloha Nami,
Watching your an mitsu video always put me in a good mood (I watched it a lot!) and I’m happy to say that I finally made your recipe for my husband’s birthday????. It was enjoyed by my whole family! I was worried about the dango, but it came out well, even with the mochiko flour. I didn’t have the black sugar syrup so I improvised by making a brown sugar syrup. Thank you for sharing a delicious recipe and fun, happy video!
Mahalo, Amy
Aloha Amy! Aw thanks for watching my Anmitsu video. You know this recipe is not so well-known, so I was wondering who would watch and make it. YOU! You’ve just made me so happy! Thank you!!! I’m glad your family enjoyed it!
Thank you Nami! I am so, so thankful that you share your recipes. Thank you for being so generous with your gift of cooking. Have a great Labor Day weekend!
What a great recipe! I was on an anmitsu binge while I was traveling in Japan and it was wonderful!! Thank you for sharing it!
http://jujusprinkles.com/kantaro-the-sweet-tooth-salaryman-anmitsu-101/
If you have a Trader Joes close by, they usually stock green tea ice-cream.
Hi Reggie! Yep, we’re lucky to live lots of stores that sell green tea ice cream. However, I hope you give my green tea ice cream a try… it’s very good!
Hi Nami, I looked up your green tea recipe. TWO cups of milk? Wow around here that is just a sample batch to try something new! I’ll have to quadruple it. Also we normally use goat’s milk to make ice cream because it makes it SO creamy and delicious. I might have to leave the farm and actually BUY some cow milk if this is supposed to be on the less creamy side of things.
Hi Reggie! Wow, goat milk! Where are you from? I think some supermarket carry goat milk, but it’s not easy to find here in the US (or even in Japan).
Nami go out and look North! See me waving? Okay I’m not quite that close. I work on a farm and goat dairy in the Sacramento area. Yes some grocery stores have goat’s milk, and, I think, it is usually overpriced. It is SO MUCH better when you “grow your own”. Like knowing the history of the food from your own garden; knowing what the milk animal has been eating (and more importantly what they have NOT been eating) makes me much more comfortable about the quality of my food. I have to admit, we do add some evaporated cow milk (organic of course) to increase the cream level. We raise the LaMancha breed which are lower in butterfat than many goat breads. In fact the butterfat content is about the same 4% as the average of grocery store cow’s milk.
Ohhh I see you (waving)!!! I understand what you mean. You’re lucky to know the source really well and get the best quality of milk up there! Thanks for sharing, it’s very fascinating to hear about how you make goat’s milk. 🙂