mistaken for chocolate...twice

Hi,

Just returned from a trip to Japan. While over there, I picked up things that looked the color of cocoa and chocolate but was not at all. The first time I got it, it was in cookies from a supermarket; the second time in a bread roll from a hotel.

The flavor is smoky, with a somewhat bitter taste (like coffee), but was also a bit grassy? (some others where I was staying thought burned/toasted grain of some type?). The identity of this ingredient has been puzzling me for the past week. Any idea of what I'm thinking of would be much appreciated.

probably sweet bean paste, very popular here . can't stand the stuff myself.

ground toasted sesame seeds?

If it was bitter there was no way it was anko (azuki bean paste), as anko is not bitter at all. I have lived in Japan for years and love Japanese sweets but am not really sure what it was you came across- maybe sesame seeds as above, but in that case it is odd that you came across it twice, as it's not all that popular a filling.

My guess is that you had anko (bean paste) which is not as sweet as chocolate and might taste bitter if you are thinking it is chocolate. I just moved back to the US where everything is sweet so compared to that anko might be bitter tasting to you.