Halal Crispy Monaka, a perfect collaboration of Okinawa and Japanese sweet.

What is Monaka Japanese sweet?

A package with dark brown and black with traditional Okinawa motifs.  Upon opening this luxurious package with a little bit of excitement, a brilliant yellow, pink and orange colored Shisa, an Okinawan guardian lion, and traditional hat called Hanagasa came into eyes.  These are “Okinawa Monaka sweets” of Cocos Island Okinawa.

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Monaka is one of the most traditional Japanese sweets, made from two parts.  One is called a shell or wafer, which is like a pastry part, and the other is a sweet paste, which is usually made from sweetened red beans.

This product has pursued what is considered as typical image of Okinawa, by adding Red sweet potatoes and brown sugar, which are only produced in Okinawa, into their pastes.

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How does Cocos Island Okinawa make their Monaka so crispy and yummy?

To obtain a crispy texture in the wafer, they use glutinous rice grown in Japan.  However, this crispy texture will be lost as time goes by, especially as a souvenir.  This is why they have separated the wafer and pastes, and the customers add the paste just before eating.

This is the most entertaining moment because consumers can choose which shells to use, and which paste to add.  They can even adjust the amount of the paste as they like.

Since they have put enough amount of paste, consumers can use the left paste for other purposes.  Personally, the author liked to put this sweet paste on the freshly baked toast as a breakfast.

They also carefully choose ingredients.  They use ingredients grown in Shiga, Ishikawa and Okinawa and trying to make a “genuine” Japanese product.

They are not certified as Halal, however, since the product does not contain any liquor or pork, meat-derived ingredients, Muslim travelers can choose to bring with them as a souvenir, which is a very difficult thing in Okinawa where a lot of liquors or pork products are used.

Details about the product

Picture Copyright: Cocos Island Okinawa

Information as of January 2023.
The product is not Halal certified, so that there is a small risk of contamination.