Japanese · Authentic-ish Japanese
Anmitsu
184 kcal a serving, against 261 for the traditional version. That is 77 kcal off, or 30%, with 9.9g of protein. Serves 6. .
What the traditional version is
Make a clear, firm jelly from agar powder, slice it into cubes, and pile it into bowls with adzuki bean paste, tinned fruit (mandarin, peach, pineapple, or whatever's knocking about), and a generous pour of kuromitsu syrup. Some versions add small mochi, but at its core you've got jelly, beans, fruit and syrup.
What changed, and what each change costs
Anko swapped for 1:1 blend of adzuki and firm tofu
Most of anko is beans, but it's also sugar. Blending firm tofu with the adzuki bulks up the protein and halves the sugar, and you don't lose all the body. The taste is milder, but you get to eat more.
What it costs you. Nobody's mistaking tofu-anko for the real stuff. It's lighter, fluffier, and missing that slow-bean chew. The first spoonful is a ringer, but by the third you notice you're not quite at the pudding finish line.
Cut kuromitsu syrup by half
The syrup is there for drama, not nutrition. Use half, and you still get the dark, malty hit, but the pudding isn't swimming.
What it costs you. Less syrup means less sticky decadence. If you're a sugar fiend, call it self-control. If you're sane, you'll barely miss it.
Extra fresh fruit, less tinned
Fresh fruit brings in more fibre, fewer preservatives and a bit less sugar. Japanese shop fruit is spendy and perfect, but over here, you can get away with whatever's ripe.
What it costs you. You lose the nostalgia of canned stuff in syrup and those geometric peach wedges. You gain a fruit salad that isn't all the same texture.
Jelly unchanged
Agar jelly is already pure plant and about as low-calorie as you'll see. If you cut more, you get nothing at all.
What it costs you. Nothing on the plate, and it is worth saying why. The kanten jelly is agar set in water, so it is close to zero before I touch it. Leaving an ingredient alone because it is already free is a decision, not an oversight, and this is the one place in the pudding where there was nothing to take.
The numbers
| Per serving | Traditional | Lightened |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 261 | 184 |
| Protein | 10.7g | 9.9g |
| Fat | 0.4g | 2.5g |
| Saturated fat | 0.1g | 0.4g |
| Carbohydrate | 56.2g | 33.2g |
| Protein per 100 kcal | 4.1g | 5.4g |
Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Japanese prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked.
Allergens. soybeans.
The method is in the book
This version is lean, chilled and not quite as sticky-sweet as the proper anmitsu - but you get a bowlful you can eat for breakfast and not hate yourself. The tofu's doing solid work bulking out the bean paste and saving you a load of sugar. You lose some of the slow, sticky satisfaction, but your spoon still comes back clean. If you want to sneak in a proper sugar rush and undo all my work, just double the syrup.
The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Japanese, along with 48 more. It is not out yet. The swap kit is free in the meantime.