Strawberry Daifuku
Ichigo daifuku — a whole ripe strawberry and a pillow of red bean paste wrapped in soft, pillowy mochi. The contrast of jammy fruit, earthy anko, and chewy rice is the whole point.
Ingredients
- small ripe strawberries6, hulled and patted dry
- sweet red bean paste (koshian or tsubuan)180 g
- shiratamako or mochiko (glutinous rice flour)100 g
- sugar40 g
- water160 ml
- potato starch1/3 cup, for dusting
Steps
Wrap strawberries with bean paste.
Divide the bean paste into 6 portions. Flatten each into a disk in your palm and wrap it around a strawberry, leaving the tip exposed. Chill while you make the mochi.
Mix mochi ingredients and cover.
In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk the glutinous rice flour, sugar, and water until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap.
Microwave and stir the dough.
Microwave on high for 1 minute, stir hard with a wet spatula, then microwave another 1 minute. Stir again and microwave 30 seconds more — the dough should look glossy and stretchy.
Dust surface and divide mochi.
Dust a work surface generously with potato starch. Tip the hot mochi out and dust the top. Divide into 6 portions with a starch-dusted bench scraper.
Wrap strawberries with mochi.
Working one at a time, flatten a piece of mochi into a thin disk. Set a bean-wrapped strawberry tip-down in the center, then pinch the mochi up and around to seal at the base.
Set daifuku and serve promptly.
Set seam-side down on a starch-dusted plate. Brush off excess starch and serve within a few hours, ideally the same day.
Nutrition, per serving. 140 calories. Protein 2.3 grams, 6 percent. Carbs 33.7 grams, 92 percent. Fat 0.3 grams, 2 percent. Fiber 2.1 grams, sugar 15.1 grams, saturated fat 0 grams, sodium 0 milligrams. Estimated from ingredients.
