Strawberry Daifuku

Strawberry Daifuku is a type of Japanese sweet (wagashi, 和菓子) that has strawberry wrapped in red bean paste and then with wrapped with soft mochi. 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 locally selling mochi – both Japanese and Taiwanese type. Have you tried making homemade mochi before?

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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.

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 glutinous rice flour (shiratamako) or just glutinous rice flour. 

You can usually find shiratamako in Japanese grocery stores in Singapore. Most of the time I simply use the usual glutinous rice flour that we find in local supermarkets, for convenience : )

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How to Make Daifuku

You can make the mochi either by steaming or cooking in a microwave.

The steaming method usually takes a little longer. If you have a microwave at home, you can easily make 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 just cornstarch if you can’t find the potato starch). 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. It is easier to wrap with a smaller strawberry inside.

I didn’t manage to find Korean strawberries when I was making these daifuku. I got the usual Driscoll’s strawberries, which are slightly larger in size.

You can also skip the strawberry to simply make a standard red bean mochi – but I find the addition of strawberry adds more flavor and texture. 

Filling

I have seen both red bean paste (anko) and white bean paste (shiro-an) being used as fillings for mochi. But I guess the filling more commonly used in Singapore 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! 🙂

Mochi Making Tips

When the mochi is done, you will find the mochi turning more translucent, compared to the opaque white liquid batter before microwaving or steaming.

And when you stir through the (sticky) mixture, there should not be any opaque white flour left. That’s when you know the mochi is ready!

It will be very sticky, so be sure to coat your spatula lightly with oil to prevent sticking. Dust a baking tray with Japanese potato starch and place the cooked mochi on the potato starch. You can use a pair of food scissors or benchscraper to cut the mochi. Again, lightly coat the scissors or benchscraper with oil to prevent sticking.

Also, take note to work fast to roll out and wrap the mochi while it is still relatively warm, otherwise it may set, making wrapping and rolling a little more difficult.

Strawberry Daifuku

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• Total Time: 17 minutes
• Yield: 6 Pcs 1x

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Description

Soft and chewy traditional Japanese sweet, wrapped with red bean paste and juicy strawberry.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

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)

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Instructions

Filling

1. 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

1. Grease a microwave-safe bowl and spatula lightly with oil. Prepare a baking tray with generous portion of Japanese potato starch or cornstarch.
2. Mix icing sugar and glutinous rice flour together in another bowl.
3. Add in water in 2 batches. Mix till well combined. Pour into greased bowl from Step (1).
4. Microwave in Medium, 30 secs. Remove to stir using a spatula.
5. Microwave again in Medium, 30 secs. Remove to stir using the spatula.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Flatten a pc of the cut mochi dough, place one red bean 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 around the sides to make it rounder.
9. Repeat for all portion of the mochi dough.
10. 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

If the red bean paste you bought is slightly wet, you can divide them into portions first. Place the red bean paste onto paper kitchen towel in an airtight container, to absorb the extra moisture.

You can play around with the mochi ratio, ie you can cut the mochi into more portions or increase the amount of red bean paste, according to your taste preferences.

Be careful that the mochi dough can be quite hot out of microwave. You can choose to wear gloves while wrapping the mochi.

Best consumed on the same of making, otherwise by the next day. The mochi dough will get dry and harder as days pass.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 minutes
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Microwave
• Cuisine: Japanese

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