manjuu(Manju)
A confectionery made by steaming or baking a sweet bean paste wrapped in a skin made of kneaded flour such as wheat flour, rice flour, or buckwheat flour. The origin of this sweet is said to be “Manto,” which was created by Zhuge Kongming, a Chinese military strategist known for his novel “The Legend of the Three Kingdoms. It was not until the Muromachi period (1336-1573) in the 14th century that it spread to Japan. It is said that the first “Nara Manju” (steamed buns) was made by Lin Jochin, who came to Japan from the Song Dynasty in China at that time. While Chinese mantou are generally filled with meat, in Japan, filling with red bean paste became popular, and from the Edo period to the present day, a wide variety of mantou appeared all over the country.
