The concept of the ice cream sandwich was born in feudal Japan and is still a popular dessert and snack today: Monaka (最中)

Monaka is a Japanese sweet made of azuki bean jam filling sandwiched between two thin crisp wafers made from mochi. The jam can be made from azuki beans but also with sesame seed, chestnuts, or rice cake. Monaka exists since the early Edo period 

Modern monaka can also be eaten filled with ice cream. The wafers can be square, triangular, or may be shaped like cherry blossoms, chrysanthemums and so on. Monaka is a type of dessert which is served with tea. There are still many very famous monaka specialty stores in Japan.

Monaka ice cream is hugely popular in Japan and can be bought in every konbini. It is often filled with vanilla or chocolate ice cream. The wafers of Monaka ice cream are not made of Mochi but normal water dough as it holds ice cream a lot better.

Have you ever eaten traditional Monaka ? The ice cream certainly is a perfect snack for the hot summer days coming.