1.
sweet red bean soup; oshiruko
A traditional Japanese sweet soup made from sweetened azuki beans, typically served hot with mochi (rice cakes) or shiratama dango (rice flour dumplings). A classic winter comfort food.
冬はお汁粉がおいしい。
Oshiruko is delicious in winter.
お餅入りのお汁粉を食べた。
I ate oshiruko with mochi in it.
初詣の帰りに甘味処でお汁粉を注文した。
On the way back from the New Year's shrine visit, I ordered oshiruko at a traditional sweets shop.
The お is an honorific prefix; the base form is 汁粉, but お汁粉 is the standard spoken form. In the Kanto region (Tokyo), お汁粉 refers to the smooth-paste (strained) version, while 善哉 sometimes refers to the version with whole beans. In Kansai (Osaka), the naming conventions differ. Commonly served at 甘味処 (traditional sweets shops) and during 正月 (New Year). Often associated with warming up in cold weather.