If you ever eat Japanese desserts, chances are you’ve tasted red bean paste before. Usually, it is paired up with ice cream, or used as a dessert filling—like those in red bean paste buns or sesame balls.
Though beans are more common to be consumed as a savory food in Western countries, in Asia, red beans are more common to be consumed as sweet delicacies.
To make red bean paste, red beans are boiled and steamed, then it is mixed with sugar and mashed until smooth. There is also a type of red bean paste that is chunkier called tsubuan, as opposed to the completely mashed and strained type: koshian.
Red bean paste mochi, or mochi daifuku, is a Japanese traditional dessert that consists of red bean paste wrapped in chewy rice mochi. In Japan, you can easily find them with a whole strawberry in the middle of the mochi. This variety is called ichigo daifuku.
The nice balance between the sour fresh strawberry and the sweetness of red bean paste is unforgettable. Add that with the chewy texture of rice mochi and it will be an awesome dessert.
This dessert can be intimidating at first glance, but do not worry because it’s quite easy once you have the red bean paste available. You can even make daifuku mochi with only a microwave!
Please try out this recipe by all means.
Strawberry Mochi Daifuku
Ingredients
- 150 g Red Bean Paste
- 100 g Glutinous Rice Flour
- 30 g Sugar
- 150 ml Water
- 6 Strawberries
- Potato Starch (As needed)
Instructions
- Wash the strawberries, drain them, and remove the stems
- Divide the red bean paste into 6 equal amounts, round them, flatten them a little, and wrap each strawberry with it.
- To make the mochi dough, mix glutinous rice flour, water, and sugar in a bowl
- Cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap. Heat in the microwave in 600W for 2 minutes. After done, remove the cover and mix the mochi dough.
- Cover lightly again with the plastic wrap, heat again in a microwave in 600W for 1 minute. Take it out and mix the dough again. Put the dough in a tray that has been sprinkled with potato starch.
- Divide the mochi dough into 6 equal amounts while it's still warm, wrap the strawberries that has been covered in red bean paste.
Recommended Red Bean Paste Products
The red bean and sugar quality can make or break the overall taste of your red bean paste. So why not make them with the best ingredients out there?
Introducing organic red beans from a farm in Hokkaido that has cultivated red beans for more than 30 years without pesticides. Try the red beans together with Wasanbon sugar, a fine sugar specially made by a sugar refinery in Japan that has 200 years of history.
