How To Make Daifuku Mochi – Soft and chewy mochi filled with sweet anko bean paste is a favorite from kids to adults. Learn how to easily make it at home.
How To Make Daifuku Mochi
I picked up a phone at probably 3 am in the morning with a news that my dad had passed away!! I thought it was a dream! I really wished it was a dream. But it wasn’t!! If I may step back to March 2011. When the tsunami hit Japan. I quickly packed the best I could. Hubby was still in Canada on business trip. I was home alone packing things with tears streaming down my face and a crying 3-month old baby asking for my boobs!! The baby needed milk and comfort. I wished I could get that kind of comfort, but no matter what..I know there’s no such comfort in a situation I’m in ! “Dad just passed away” and that’s all that kept ringing inside my head!!
Mr. G. got home that early morning and we sped to the airport and the three of us got on the plane. I couldn’t stop thinking how my mom was doing. How she was coping with the loss! I wasn’t coping with the loss yet. I was still trying to process the bad news that seemed very unreal!! We were stranded in Japan for 2 days. Inside the plan for 48 hours with my 3-month old first-born. I was grateful we were breastfeeding because I couldn’t imagine mixing formula when the plane has no clean supply of water, out of cups, out of food. People literally gave me their food because they knew I was breastfeeding and needed to eat more. Yes..there are kind people on planet earth still ! We were out of diapers too. I didn’t pack enough for our carry-on and never thought would be stranded inside the plane for that long (lesson learned). After released from the plan, we couldn’t go outside of the airport because there was no transportation functioning. We slept on the floor at the airport. Narita looked like a refugee camp. By the time I reached Indonesia, I’ve missed my dad’s funeral. Which to this date, I still have trouble accepting that fact, but I know I need to move on!!! Sorry if I bore you with the story. It just that the thought of anything Japanese brings up memory of the tsunami and of course my dad. One day I will meet him again. Just not yet 🙂
Regardless, Japan is still on my list of country to visit. I love the food, the country, the culture, the people. Japanese home-cooking is also one of my favorites. Mochi is one of my favorite Japanese sweets. You see them being packaged so adorably in stores. Not only in Japan, but in other Asian countries, for example Singapore. I love going to Japanese food store to see all the food. Their packaging are hands down attractive. That is one thing about the Japanese. The appearance of everything is of paramount importance.
Anyway, back to daifuku mochi. What is daifuku ? it is basically an Anko (azuki bean paste) wrapped with mochi on the outside. Mochi itself is made of sweet rice flour or in Southeast Asia, we call it glutinous rice flour. It’s not intensely sweet (at least not the one I made) and my daughter loves daifuku mochi. In fact, for her upcoming birthday, she told me she would love her some mochi ice cream. I bought some from Trader’s Joe before and she got hooked every since. Guess I will be making mochi ice cream soon lol !
Daifuku mochi is a very simple dessert but yet very elegant and can be wrapped attractively as gifts. They need to be freshly made though as they don’t do well after refrigeration. You will be surprised by how easy it is to actually make your own daifuku mochi !!
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For baking/ kueh making: I highly encourage to weigh ingredients with a digital kitchen scale instead of using measuring cups as they are not very accurate especially when it comes to recipe that requires precision.
GRAMS TO CUPS CONVERSION (UNSIFTED)INGREDIENTS
- 100 gr glutinous rice flour - sweet rice flour/mochiko flour
- 150 ml water
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp powder flavoring of your choice if you choose to use - you can use artificial coloring of your choice too
FOR DUSTING:
- 50 gr glutinous rice flour - sweet rice flour/mochiko flour
FOR FILLING:
- 250 gr Anko filling - store-bought or homemade
INSTRUCTIONS
STIR-FRY THE GLUTINOUS RICE FLOUR YOU WILL USE FOR DUSTING (CAN BE DONE SEVERAL DAYS/WEEKS BEFORE):
- Place 50 gr of glutinous rice flour on a dry non-stick pan over medium heat. Stir fry for about 15 minutes or until the flour started to smell slightly nutty/toasted. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature and they can be kept for weeks or even months
PREPARE MOCHI:
- Portion the anko paste into roughly about 25-30 gr balls and place in the refrigerator while you are preparing mochi dough
- Place all the ingredients for mochi dough in a saucepan. Make sure the mixture is smooth. Strain if necessary to get rid of any lumps. Cook this mixture on the stove over medium to high heat until it started to bubble, thicken and turn slightly translucent
- Sprinkle your work surface with toasted glutinous rice flour you prepared before. Place the cooked dough on top of the flour. Sprinkle with more flour to cover the dough. The dough will no longer stick to your hands at this point. Flatten into a round disc
- Cut the flattened dough into 8 equal pieces. Dust with more flour to prevent the dough from sticking to your fingers
- Flatten the mochi dough into a round, about 4-5 inch circle. Place the anko filling in the middle and wrap the mochi dough around the filling. Dust with more flour and continue with the rest of the dough until you run out
3 comments
So sorry to read your blog about your dad. 🙁 May he RIP and you see him somewhere years along in the far far future. I just started reading your blog. Iven is your first born and you have a daughter too?
The first time I tried mochi was in Hong Kong. My friend had requested me to buy some for him and I had no idea what to look for. I later realized these can be found anywhere in an Asian grocery store. I’m amazed that there are so many flavors and realizing that red bean paste is so easy to make with just two ingredients. :O I’d love to see more recipes in variations of mochi though.
Take care,
Linda
Thank you Linda. Fiorina, my daughter is my first born, 5 now and Iven is our second, he is 2.
I know. I’m so amazed by the variaties of mochi and how pretty they are. I Love the Japanese and their presentations. Simply superb !!
I love Japanese sweets! These look delicious! 🙂