ichigodaifuku

Yesterday it rained all day, Satoshi had to work and I debated about what to do. I flipped through a couple of cookbooks and came across a recipe for daifuku(rice cake filled with sweet bean paste) made from kirimochi (rice cakes that are cut into squares). I didn't have kirimochi, but I did have some leftover mochi in my freezer. So, I took it out and decided to use it to make the daifuku.

I put on my jacket and went to the grocery store. There were tons of people as Sundays are especially crowded not only because most families are together on this day, but because if you shop at their store during the week, the store has a 10% coupon to use on everything except liquor. I usually use this day to purchase items that are expensive like rice, meats, cheeses.

I bought koshian (smooth sweet bean paste) for the inside of the daifuku. And I also bought ichigo (strawberries).

After coming home, I put all the groceries away and washed a couple of strawberries and took off the tops. Then I took out the koshian and put some in a piece of plastic wrap and started to wrap the strawberry inside of the bean paste. Using the plastic wrap saves your hands from getting dirty.

I usually don't use my microwave, but this recipe calls for you to zap the mochi for about a minute and thirty seconds--to get the mochi soft and pliable. I only zapped it for thirty seconds.

On another piece of plastic wrap, I sprinkled some cornstarch and put my piece of mochi onto it. The cornstarch helps the mochi from sticking to your hands. I then put the bean paste wrapped strawberry in the middle and brought up the sides and pinched everything in the middle.

It was fast, easy and delicious. This is the inside of the one I made for Satoshi. He thought I bought it! I'm going to try to make the outside from scratch, will post the recipe later.

Have a nice week.