Ichigo Daifuku Mochi (Strawberry Japanese Sweet Rice Cakes)
Ichigo Daifuku Mochi (Strawberry Japanese Sweet Rice Cakes) is a traditional Japanese recipe for a classic sweet snack or dessert of strawberries coated in red bean paste that are finished by covering in sweet rice flour to form a cake. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Japanese version of: Strawberry Japanese Sweet Rice Cakes (Ichigo Daifuku Mochi).
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This is a classic Japanese snack of rice cakes stuffed with strawberries coated red bean paste. As it’s ready in under 10 minutes this makes a wonderful and different treat or dessert for Valentine’s day. Also, if you don’t have anko (Japanese red bean paste) or Chinese sweet red bean paste you can just cover the strawberries in the rice flour coating. You can also use chocolate-dipped strawberries as the filling. Tasty, and ready in under 10 minutes, what’s not to love!
Ingredients:
115g (1 cup, heaped) glutinous rice flour
4 tbsp sugar
125ml (1/2 cup) water
8 strawberries, hulled
6 tbsp anko (red bean paste)
1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) (plus more for dusting)
Method:
In a large bowl, mix together the glutinous rice flour, sugar and water until combined. Loosely cover with clingfilm (cling wrap), place in your microwave and cook on HIGH for 1 minutes.
Stir with a spoon, re-cover and microwave for 1 minutes more. After this time the rice will have swollen and the mixture will be paste-like.
Get a spatula, and wet it in water. Pull the mochi away from the sides of the bowl and fold it towards the centre until it's a rough dough ball shape. It should be sticky and pliable, with the colour turning from bright white to a more translucent cream.
Scatter and spread the cornflour on a clean dry work surface, then turn out the mochi on this using the wet spatula. Cover the dough with cornflour until it's no longer sticky, then mould it into a thick and flat disc, and allow to cool for a few minutes.
Take about 2 tsp of red bean paste, shape into a ball, then flatten into a sheet between your palms. Use this to cover the first strawberry, then repeat with the remaining paste until you have 8 red bean paste coated strawberries ready to wrap with mochi.
Grab the cooled sheet of mochi dough and cut into 8 even pieces using a knife or pastry cutter (pop a bit of cornflour on this to avoid sticking).
Coat your fingertips with cornflour and pick up your first piece of mochi. Flatten and shape into a disc around 11cm (2 1/2 in) in diameter. Place a red bean paste coated strawberry into the centre and wrap the mochi dough around it (like closing a purse). Pull up the edges into the top and pinch it altogether. Flatten the pinched area to make a seam. It’s best to put the tip of the strawberry in the middle of the dough and then close the dough around the top of the strawberry so it stands with the point uppermost when finished.
Place the mochi seam side down and repeat the shaping with the remaining dough and bean paste. Serve immediately, as this is best eaten on the day it’s prepared.
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