manju

plural manjus · alternative manjū

1. A traditional Japanese confection; most have an outside made from flour, rice powder, kudzu, and buckwheat, and a filling of red bean paste, usually made from boiled azuki beans and sugar; in Hawaii, Okinawan ones are made with a filling of purple sweet potato, butter, milk, sugar, and salt, but the most common filling is bean paste.

   Angel hummed, their gaze shifting from him to the plate of manju sitting on the bench.

   2020, Naomi Aoki, Deadly Game, →ISBN

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   Then, replying to Gyowo’s interrogation, he announced that as he had as many manju cakes as he wished for, and as he was no more use in this world, he would not mind dying.

   1930, Yosoburo Takekoshi, The Economic Aspects of the History of the Civilization of Japan, volume III, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, page 76

   My mother opened a large bag and took out four bottles of beer, some manjus and iced cakes.

   1973, Ryuji Nagatsuka, translated by Nina Rootes, “Part One”, in I Was a Kamikaze, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., published 1974, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 57

   Smiling, she pours a cup each for herself and Shiro, goes back to the kitchen, and returns with a plate of manju. Each manju is shaped like a maple leaf. / “These are specialties of Hiroshima. You’ll like them because they don’t have bean paste inside. The outside part is like pancakes. Inside they have chocolate or jam. Try one.” She holds the plate toward me. / I take one of the manju and bite into semisweet chocolate. “This is great.” / Michiyo and Shiro are looking at each other and nodding. See, she likes the manju, they must be thinking to each other.

   1995, Kyoko Mori, The Dream of Water: A Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, page 193

   Madara assumes the form of a chubby, mochi-like cat named Nyanko-sensei who loves to drink sake and eat manju and ebi furai—and pretty much anything else.

   2020, Diana Ault, Cook Anime: Eat Like Your Favorite Character—From Bento to Yakisoba, New York, N.Y.: Tiller Press, Simon & Schuster, Inc., →ISBN, page 18

   The cream was thick and complimented the pancake-y batter of the manju perfectly. […] “Manju originated from Chinese mantou, that deep fried bread thing you dip in condensed milk that you can get in Binondo. But this is Japanese. And the Japanese version is made with red bean instead of chocolate or custard.[…]”

   2022, Carla de Guzman, Some Bali to Love, Midnight Books

1. A female given name from Sanskrit.