A Former Lux Bite Pastry Chef Makes Gem-Like Japanese Crystal Jelly

Kohakutou looks and feels more like a gem than jelly. The translucent Japanese sweets have crystallised sugar on the outside that shatters like glass to reveal a soft agar jelly inside. It’s available via some small online bakeries, but is relatively hard to find in Melbourne.

In April this year, pastry chef Rachel Miyazaki, who worked in the kitchen team at Lux Bite, and visual artist Yiying Lee, started Niji Sweets – a market stand that specialises in kohakutou and pops up at places such as the Queen Vic Market and The Rose St Artists’ Market.

“We’re busy mums, but we still wanted to do something,” Lee tells Broadsheet of the duo’s decision to start Niji Sweets.

They primarily use fruit juice and teas to flavour their kohakutou, with fruity flavours such as strawberry and apple among the most popular. But for Lee, the standouts are the tea-flavoured Earl Grey and hojicha sweets.

Niji Sweet’s kohakutou recipe took Miyazaki three months to develop. She starts by making an agar jelly (a red algae jelly common in Asia). Then, Miyazaki hand cuts each piece and air-dries them until a thin film of crystallised sugar forms around the outside.

Miyazaki and Lee plan to launch an online store soon, but for now, the best place to try Niji Sweets is at markets. The next pop-up is at the Southeast Asia Festival at Queen Vic Market on Saturday September 6 and Sunday September 7, from 9am to 4pm. Other pop-ups are announced on the Niji Sweets Instagram account.

@nijisweets