[Anime Culture Monday] Anime Recipes! Fruit Jelly Parfaits from Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari!

8:00 AM May 22, 2017

Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari was a heartwarming anime that aired in Fall 2016 and with it, it brought a slew of adorable characters to the front stage. Souta ends up visiting home after living in Tokyo and working as a web designer. Where does he live? Kagawa prefecture. It’s really far! But suddenly he meets Poco, an adorable little boy with a secret. After learning the secret, Souta decides to move home to the Kingdom of Udon to be with Poco. Thus his adventures begin…

Obviously udon would be something that we would want to talk about in this series, but we already have and multiple times at that. Though, the one thing is, we learned about even more delicious foods that exist in not only Japanese culture, but in anime as well. Sure they will always look ten thousand times better in anime, but that does not mean that they are not worth taking a shot at. So, for this week, we will be covering something deliciously sweet, something essentially summer, and something that is refreshing and perfect to beat off the summer heat: Fruit Jelly Parfaits.

Fruit Jelly Parfaits from Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari

If there is one trademark about Japan, and it is what surprises foreigners a lot when they do some to japan, is how much Japanese dessert culture relies not on sugar, but on the natural flavors of its ingredients to make a delicious dessert. Quite often, for example, in a strawberry pound cake, the dessert will have a minimal amount of sugar in the cake itself and in the whipped cream. This then will lead to you tasting the strawberries’ natural sweetness before anything else in the recipe.

Yogurt is also often used to make fantastic desserts that you would this would be loaded with sugar, but are not. Now with all of the ingredients that we are going to list, you naturally, do not have to use all of them, but the more diverse your selection, the richer of an experience you will get. Of course, though, we aim to please, so we will leave you with lots of alternatives as well in case you do not like one of the fruits suggested or have a preference for some over others. Without further ado, let’s dive into this sweet, delectable, refreshing summer treat!

What You Will Need:

Gelatin package

Fruit juice of your choosing. We recommend Mango or Mixed Fruits!

1 cup

Kiwi

a Persimmon

As much as you would like of plain Yogurt, Jam, & Canned Fruit

Optional Notes:

As we are sure you are aware, not everyone has persimmons growing on a tree in their backyard. So if you want to sub out something, it is perfectly fine. The concept behind a fruit parfait in Japan is to use fruits of different colors to make them stand out more in contrast with each other. So while this time is kiwi, persimmons, and canned fruit, we are going with pineapple, feel free to make your own combinations. It could be as simple as strawberry and banana, or a good green apple, mandarin oranges, and strawberries. Really, the combination is up to you. Just be sure to choose fruit that you like. If you are a vegetarian/vegan, simply sub out the gelatin for Kanten or agar-agar which is made from a seed but works just like gelatin.

How to Cook It:

1
First, dissolve enough gelatin in about 50 ml of hot water until it has been dissolved completely. There is a good chance that there will be more gelatin in the package than you need, so don’t overdo it!
2
Next, take your fruit juice, we used mango juice for this recipe, and pour it along with the melted gelatin and mix it well and thoroughly with a whisk or fork. If you do not mix this properly, it will not set correctly. So be very thorough here.
3
Pour them into glasses, cups, or slightly tall mugs. Anything will work really.
4
Put the glasses into the refrigerator and chill. They should be in there for at least one hour. If you are not sure if it has been long enough, gently push the top with a finger after the hour has passed. If it is firm, then you are good to go.
5
Once the gelatin has set, begin to slice your fruits. Peel the kiwi and then cut it into circular pieces. If you are fancy, you can even cut them into the shape of a flower by cutting out sides of the kiwi which you can then put into your parfaits.
6
For the persimmon, cut them into crescent moon shapes or whatever shape you would like as long as they fit in the glass.
7
Now, place a generous dollop of yogurt on top of the hardened gelatin. From there, pour on the canned fruit, a helping of your favorite fruit Jam, and then the fruit that you just cut up on top. You can sprinkle it with a dash of sugar if you really like your desserts sweet, but this should be more than enough to please your palate!
8
Dig in!

(Note: Be careful when cutting the fruit. Always cut away from yourself; never towards )

Yum!

Final Thoughts

This is something that Poco saw and loved and we decided that we wanted to try it too and we loved it as well! We are more than sure that you will be able to enjoy this delicious dessert as well. If there way any upside to dessert, is that when compared with baked sweets, this is much less likely to spike your blood sugar and let you beat the summer heat as we all know that it is just around the corner. Did you enjoy this week? If you did, be sure to let us know in the comments below and if there is anything you want us to make, please let us know that too! Till next time!

Editor/Translator

Author: Nagareboshi

American by birth; international by choice. I am trying to bring attention to one of my favorite causes; me. I translate by day and write by night. Aspiring polyglot. My dream would be to be the personal translator for Amuro Namie. Other than that, my hobbies include languages, weightlifting, sleeping, karaoke, GOOD coffee and music. When I’m not doing any of the above, I am most likely laughing hysterically at Willam Belli videos or EV farming. I ain’t gunna Rupologize for it neither. Waifu are Shirai Kuroko & Euaerin.

Top 5 Anime by Nagareboshi