Ann Leckie’s Hal-Con report (see Pixel Scroll 4/21/16 Pixel Like It’s 1999 no. 17) prompts this reprint from Vanamonde 229 — also in John’s first collection West of the Moon:
I often recount my first adventure at a Japanese bakery, I think in New York. On display were hundreds of little cakes in many shapes and colors. I bought one, and took a bite. It was filled with bean paste. How interesting, I thought, never having tasted it before. I picked out a different one, and took a bite. This one was filled with bean paste. How interesting. I tried another and another and yet another, each of wholly distinct appearance. Each and every one proved to be filled with — yes. Remarkable. I remember describing this adventure to a girl I knew. She thought I was putting her on. Maybe a year later, she happened into a Japanese neighborhood, and found a bakery. Look, hundreds of little cakes! She bought one. Well, well.
That’s why you lot should watch more anime or you’d know about those “fish cakes” already…
I think at least one of the times he wrote about this, it was in response to my comment about the pastries filled with red bean paste. I had called it “an acquired taste”, and one which “I was not trying very hard to acquire”.