Wednesday, May 09, 2007

ichigodaifuku (part 2)

Today I met my friend Kathy in Takatsuki. We get together about once a month for lunch and shopping. We always have fun talking about different things that we find while living in Japan.

On our way home, we went past a fruit stand and he had baskets of strawberries for only 200yen (about $2) a basket. You might think that that is expensive, but in the supermarket, the price is nearly double. These precious jewels were very ripe and made the train ride home very pleasant with their sweet aroma.

When I got home, I tried making ichigo daifuku (strawberry rice cakes with sweet bean paste), I made them earlier this week and decided to make the mochi (rice cake) from scratch.

It is really easy to make, but kind of messy.

Ichigo Daifuku makes about 12

150 g mochiko (rice flour)
170cc water
12 small strawberries, washed and tops cut off
koshian (smooth sweet bean paste)
katakuriko (cornstarch)

Cut the tops off and wash the strawberries, drying them with a paper towel. Leave aside.
Mix water with mochiko and zap in microwave at 500W for 5 minutes.
When it comes out, be careful, it is very hot.
Sprinkle some katakuriko onto a board or in a pan and pour hot mochi out onto it.
Knead a bit to get mochi soft.
Break into 12 pieces (about 20-30g each).
Flatten a piece add some koshian and then invert the strawberry into the koshian.
Bring up the mochi sides and seal in the center.
Round between your palms, adding katakuriko as needed.
Repeat until all mochi and strawberries are gone.

NOTES: If the koshian that you use is a bit stiff then you can "pre-wrap" your strawberries in them. My koshian was a bit wet, so I scooped it onto the mochi as I made the daifuku. I only zapped the mochi for about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Be careful, you need to work with the mochi while it is still hot. Sprinkle katakuriko onto your hands so the mochi won't stick too much. I only put about a teaspoon of koshian, but you can put more if you'd like. Just don't too much that you won't be able to seal up the daifuku at the bottom or rip the mochi. Goes well with hot green tea or cold mugicha (barley tea).

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

those are beautiful and mouthwatering! i think i'd absolute love them. seems like a perfect manju for afternoon tea time. the ichigodaifuku in the middle photo look like boobs. --the french purposely make pastries and candies that look that way ;-) -bourgogne

K and S said...

Now that you mention it Bourgogne, they do! they were great with a Japanese tea.

Take care!
Kat

Anonymous said...

kat, i love eating this in the summer, especially really cold, sweet small bites, yummy ! :) You've so much dedication doing this, salute !
Btw, how much cornstarch did you use here ?

Brilynn said...

I love the look of that strawberry peaking out of the rice cake!

Pille said...

Strawberry dumplings look so cute!

K and S said...

ooh, I'll have to try them really cold, Melting Wok! Thanks for the tip. Just use a little cornstarch for your hands and the area you work on and sprinkle more if need be.

Thanks Brilynn & Pille!

Take care everyone!
Kat

Journal Actif said...

Nothing beats delicious, fresh strawberries aroma! I'll try soon your recipe, I opened a bag of sweet red bean paste 3 days ago (used it to color soap) and this will be the perfect plan to use what's left of it.

K and S said...

can't wait to see your ichigo daifuku, Zoubida!

Take care.

Kat

Julie said...

Those look so good, I really enjoy things like this.

K and S said...

I'm glad Julie and thanks for stopping by.

Take care.
Kat

Anonymous said...

I love Japanese Strawberry & Ichigo Daifuku. Actually I went to Japan in Feb this year. I wrote about it on : http://lolo-eatable.blogspot.com/2008/04/japanese-strawberry-again.html and also http://lolo-eatable.blogspot.com/2008/03/japanese-strawberry.html

Thanks for the recipe.

K and S said...

I hope you like the recipe, Anon! BTW, I checked out your blog and you have some very interesting and delicious adventures!

Take care.
Kat

Tamakikat said...

Hi Kat,

hope you're having a great day.

I just tried your recipe for 'ichigodaifuku'.

I had 2 huge strawberries so I just used 1/3 of the ingredients.

The 'ichigodaifuku' were a lot of fun to make (-nice to handle that hot mochi in winter temperatures).

The result tasted 'Oh soo good!'

Will definitely make these again soon.

Thanks for posting the recipe.

TK

K and S said...

Glad you enjoyed it TK :)

Take care.
Kat

Anonymous said...

Looks amazingggg!!! Def going to make these. Do you know if these store well, and for how long, if they freeze good

K and S said...

Anon, I don't think they will freeze well. As for storing them, mochi will become hard if kept in the fridge, so if possible, you should try to eat them that day.

Take care.
Kat