Cheese Manju: 2 Authentic Types by Okashi no Hidaka and Aji no Kuraya, Miyazaki, Japan

The cheese manju was invented in Miyazaki in around 1980 as a twist on a local pastry. I got to try 2 contrasting varieties recently. The first was from Okashi no Hidaka, a patisserie that wasn't one of the original inventors, but which is known for premium quality pastries blending Western techniques with Japanese flavours. The second was a very Asian version of the cheese manju by Aji no Kuraya, which specialises on Miyazaki sweets and snacks.

Original Cheese Manju by Okashi no Hidaka

This original cheese manju was an absolute treat. It was actually more Western in feel overall, with the exterior like a buttery and crumbly sablé wrapping a cream cheesecake filling. 

The cheese filling came across as very smooth and dense, close to a rare cream cheesecake without the tang of lemon or yogurt that is normally found in New York or Western cheesecakes. It was also not eggy or fluffy, but dense in texture and light in flavour, so it was not at all like the fluffy Japanese steamed cheesecakes.

There were bits of raisins in the sable crust too that had a bit of sweet tang. I initially thought it might be a cranberry before reading the ingredients list. You can barely see it in the picture of the cheese filling as a little reddish spot in the cookie-like crust.

The ingredients are very pure as you can see below. They are very Western, with almond powder (perhaps giving the crust the sable cookie feel), butter, butter oil, actual cream, cream cheese of course, butter milk powder, egg and so on. There didn't seem to be any mizuame or bean paste like most traditional Japanese confectioneries.

 This was the wrapper. 

Finally, the shop along Tachibana Doori (Tachibana Street) had a very nice indoor seat with the traditional huge bright red Japanese umbrella. It was very comfortable, but there was no trash can because perhaps they don't expect people to dine substantially there.

 

Cheese Manju by Aji no Kuraya

This version was very Asian - it resembled the plain Chinese steamed rice flour cake or steamed egg cake from the outside. But they use wheat flour (see ingredients list below), like Chinese steamed buns and Japanese manju. True to form, it used no butter.

The first impression upon my first bite is that it felt a lot more refined, with the cheese coming a lot closer to rare cheese or a pure buttery cream cheese from the tub, as there was not a lot of salt or acidity. The creaminess of the cheese paired very well with the plain steamed wheat bun. 

There was also kokuto or Okinawan brown sugar used to flavour the bun, resulting in the brownish colour. The kokuto's burnt caramel notes were subtle but fragrant and not sweet. Together with the sweet winey raisin, it added depth and top notes that paired very well with the body of the buttery cream cheese. 

I also loved the texture a lot more - the manju was fluffy, bouncy and spongy, and it went very well with the moist and creamy cheese. You can see in this photo below of the top slice, after I ate the cheesy bottom part, how many bubbles there are, resulting in the very bouncy texture.

Here is the ingredients list. I thought it interesting that they didn't list any ingredient called cheese, but just milk and milk products. Hm. The cheese felt very pure and like cream cheese though. They also listed egg, which I assume makes the manju a bit of a steamed egg cake rather than a pure wheat bun. 

Finally, here are other photos of the packaging. They don't sell these individually but only in threes.

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