How incredible vegetable desserts in Japan changed my mind about sweets
I'm the first person to refuse dessert at the end of a meal and, like many Asians, consider 'not too sweet' the finest compliment I can bestow upon a cake or its brethren. So many found it odd that I spent some time in Hokkaido recently with the main aim of attending a sweets festival.
Japan's National Confectionery Exposition has been held since 1911 to promote the country's sweets trade. It occurs once every four years but, owing to the pandemic, was cancelled in 2021 and last held in 2017.
The expo returned this year for its 28th edition – called Smile Sweets Hokkaido – and was held in Asahikawa, a small city in Hokkaido, Japan's northern island known for its excellent dairy industry and high-quality fruit and vegetables. More than 1,000 products featured.
Let's just say I've never seen such a frenzy for packaged sable biscuits, castella cakes and other sweets as I did that weekend.
A Hokkaido milk and corn soft serve ice cream from Smile Sweets Hokkaido, the 28th edition of Japan's National Confectionery Exposition. Photo: Charmaine Mok
Queues for the festival's on-site desserts, such as fluffy, cream-filled pancakes and strawberry parfaits, took up to an hour. The only thing I ended up enjoying was a single soft-serve ice cream made with Hokkaido corn, and that was only because most people were hiding from the rain at the time.
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