There’s a little shop in Tokyo that sells sweet pancake-based treats called dorayaki. A man named Sentaro works there; not especially happily, but his employment prospects are somewhat limited. At one ...

There is an enormous variety in the world of wagashi (traditional Japanese confectionery), but many of the recipes for wonderful shapes, flavours and textures are created from a base of a simple white ...

Adapted from a novel, it’s the story of Sentaro, who makes dorayaki (little pancake purses stuffed with sweet red bean paste) and sells them from a corner shop in a Tokyo back street. Masatoshi Nagase ...

There are plenty of loving close-ups of food in “Sweet Bean,” but this tender drama is no mere foodie indulgence. Zeroing in on one particular dish, the Japanese confection dorayaki, the story uses ...

For gifts that are authentic and go well with wine and a slide show, bring back foods and beverages indigenous to a particular country, state or island. When shopping for edible gifts, though, don't ...

Most of us grew up with vanilla extract in the pantry. It’s reliable, sure, but it often gets lost in the mix after baking.

Naomi Kawase's gentle study of life, loss and confectionery is easily the Japanese auteur's most accessible work to date. The word “an” translates as “sweet red bean paste” — which, at one point, was ...