Strawberry Daifuku is a type of Japanese sweet (wagashi, 和菓子), with a whole strawberry wrapped in red bean paste and then with mochi. In Japan, it is usually served during tea time as a snack, to go along with green tea.
Daifuku (or mochi) is not unfamiliar to many of us here. There are many supermarkets here selling mochi – Japanese as well as Taiwanese style. Have you tried homemade mochi before? I kind of prefer homemade ones, as they tend to be softer, without adding additives.
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Traditionally, mochi is made using cooked glutinous rice, pounded with wooden mallets in a mortar. This is a labor intensive way to make mochi. These days, we can make mochi conveniently using Japanese rice flour (shiratamako) or glutinous rice flour (mochiko).
You can usually find shiratamako in Japanese grocery stores in Singapore. But most of the time I simply use the usual glutinous rice flour that I can find in local supermarkets, for convenience 🙂
>> MORE DESSERT RECIPES
How to Make Daifuku
You can make the mochi either by steaming or be cooked in a microwave.
The steaming method usually takes a little longer. If you have a microwave at home, you can easily do the mochi in just a few mins time!
After cooking the sticky mochi, be sure to place it on a tray dusted generously with Japanese potato starch (or cornstarch if you can’t find). Divide and cut into pcs, and you are ready to wrap the fillings.
One step closer to delicious-ness! :p
Secret Ingredient? Strawberry!
I find that the best type of strawberry to use in daifuku, would be the Korean strawberries, as they are quite small. So it would be easier to wrap.
As I didn’t manage to find Korean strawberries when I was making these daifuku, I got the usual type of imported strawberries, which are larger in size.
Of course you can skip the strawberry to simply make a standard mochi – but the addition of strawberry would add more flavor and texture to the mochi!
Filling
I have seen both red bean paste (anko) and white bean paste (shiro-an) being used as fillings for mochi. But I guess more commonly seen here would still be red bean paste!
A cheat way for red bean paste would be to get ready-made paste from Japanese grocery or specialty stores. If you’re like me, being conscious of the ingredients used in ready-made food, be sure to check the ingredients, to ensure there is no sugar substitute (sorbitol) as there are quite a lot of brands that use sorbitol together with sugar. It’s a personal choice, so it’s up to you! 🙂
Strawberry Daifuku
Ingredients
Mochi
- 50 g glutinous rice flour
- 80 g water
- 40 g icing sugar
- Japanese potato starch (or cornstarch) for dusting
Filling
- 72 g red bean paste
- 6 pcs strawberries washed, hulled and let dry
Instructions
Filling
- Divide red bean paste into 6 pcs (about 12g each). Roll each portion of red bean paste into balls. Flatten the red bean paste and place 1 strawberry in it. Roll into balls. Note that if the strawberry is long in shape, it is ok to let the sharper end of the strawberry to "peep" out of the red bean paste. Set aside in airtight container.
Mochi
- Grease a microwave-safe bowl and spatula lightly with oil. Prepare a baking tray with generous portion of Japanese potato starch or cornstarch.
- Mix icing sugar and glutinous rice flour together in another bowl.
- Add in water in 2 batches. Mix till well combined. Pour into greased bowl from Step (1).
- Microwave in Medium, 30 secs. Remove to stir using a spatula.
- Microwave again in Medium, 30 secs. Remove to stir using the spatula.
- The batter should now resemble a dough. Stir and slightly knead the dough with the spatula to ensure it is cooked thoroughly. If not cooked well (ie you can still see whitish batter), put it back to the microwave for another 30 sec. Repeat till well-cooked and opaque.
- Place cooked mochi dough onto baking tray with potato starch. Sprinkle the top of the mochi dough generously with potato starch, to prevent sticking. Using a dough scraper (you can grease it lightly), cut the dough into 6 pcs.
- Taking a pc of the cut mochi dough, place one filling inside. The sharper end of the strawberry should go into the dough first, so that the top part would look nicer. Pinch the sides of the dough together. Roll it slightly to make it rounder.
- Repeat for all portion of the mochi dough.
- Garnish the top with gold leaf if needed. Chill the mochi slightly if you prefer to eat it chilled. Store in airtight container in the fridge if not consuming immediately.
Notes
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