Daifuku (Sweet Filled Mochi)
Photo: katorisi, CC BY 3.0
Daifuku is a Japanese sweet of soft rice dough wrapped around a ball of sweet red bean paste, and its name means great luck. This version uses a microwave to cook the mochi in four minutes, so there is no steaming or pounding. The real work is shaping, where starch-dusted hands and thin, stretched dough give you a tender skin around the filling. Tint the dough with food coloring for pale pink or green.
Instructions
Prepare the anko filling and roll it into 12 small balls about the size of marbles. Set them aside.
Dust a smooth work surface, such as a cutting board, with a generous layer of potato starch. The dough is very sticky, so err on the side of too much.
Stir the water and sugar together in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the rice flour and stir until no dry flour remains.
Microwave for 2 minutes, then stir. Microwave for another 2 minutes, or until the dough begins to expand, stir again, and turn it out onto the starched surface. The dough is very hot at this point, so handle it with care.
Spread or roll the dough out thin and cut it with a knife into 12 pieces of even size.
Coat your palms and fingers with potato starch, then stretch each piece out as thin as you can. Set an anko ball in the center of each one and wrap the dough around it to form a larger ball.
Roll each finished daifuku in potato starch. Place them on a plate dusted with starch or on a sheet of wax paper.
Serve warm or at room temperature. Keep leftovers in an airtight container and eat them soon, since they spoil quickly. Chocolate ganache can replace the anko, food coloring can go into the water before the flour, and cocoa powder can replace the potato starch for the final roll.
Make it personal.
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