Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku)

Strawberry Mochi - Ichigo Daifuku

I have a box of strawberries dying in my fridge. Yup - it's like 2 weeks old, very close to being "certified". I got to do something with them, but it's a lazy day for me. Regardless, I checked my pantry and found the box of Mochiko flour. Quick and simple - I decided it's Mochi time.

Japanese Mochi - Daifuku

Mochi is a very popular Japanese snack and you can often find a box of it in any Japanese or Asian supermarket. It's normally filled with red-bean or sesame fillings. I like mine with red bean (Azuki) fillings. It wasn't until recently, I discovered the Strawberry Mochi. WOW - it's soft chewy skin filled with Azuki wrapped around a crunchy juicy strawberry! I have one word for it WOW! It's ingenious... perfect combination.

Trio of Mochi

Time to impress the friends and family with this easy dessert. =)

Recipe

8 strawberries (medium size - about 1 inch each)
200g pre-made sweet red bean paste
1 cup Mochiko flour / Glutinous rice flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 cup cornstarch

1. Wash and dry the strawberries.

2. Remove the head (i.e. the leaf and stem) of the strawberries. Use a paper towel to pat dry the strawberries.

3. Divide the red bean paste into 8 small balls. (About 25g each)

4. Wrap each strawberries with the red bean balls. Leave the tip of the strawberry uncovered.

5. In a microwave-safe bowl, mix the flour, sugar and water. Stir well until the mixture is well-combined.

6. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place into microwave for 1 minute.

7. Remove and mix with a wet spoon or spatula.

8. Return bowl back to microwave for another 1 minute. Now mixture has turned sticky with some white parts.

9. Remove and mix with a a wet spoon or spatula.

10. Return bowl back to microwave for a further 30 seconds. Now the mixture should be sticky and translucent. Mixture has turned into mochi.

11. Cover your work surface with plastic wrap. Spread 1 cup of corn starch onto the plastic wrap. Put mochi on top.

12. Dust 1/4 cup of cornstarch on top of the mochi. Let cool for 1 minute.

13. Dust the spatula or your hands with cornstarch and fold the mochi into half. Dust 1/4 cup of cornstarch on top of mochi.

14. Dust a rolling pin with cornstarch. Roll out the mochi into 1/2 inch thick.

15. Use a round cookie cutter or a small bowl, cut the mochi into 8 circles.

16. Put the mochi on top of the strawberry - one at a time, covering the tip of the strawberry.

17. Start covering the strawberry by pulling the mochi to the bottom. When all ends of the mochi meet, twist and close.

18. Repeat until all strawberries are wrapped in mochi.

19. Served at room temperature. Do not chill / refrigerate the mochi.

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 Tips and tricks

1. Cut the strawberries such that it will stand flat on the top.

2. Make sure that the strawberries are completely dried before wrapping in red bean paste. The paste will not stick to wet strawberries.

3. The red bean paste will stick to your hands. Use a damp paper towel to wipe your hands after making each red bean balls. This way you will get them nicely shape each time.

4. Mochi sticks to everything. Make sure your hands, utensils and work surface is well covered with cornstarch.

5. Coated the rolling pin with cornstarch as you start rolling. This has to be done a few times to prevent the mochi from sticking as it spread out.

6. You can check out the video below on how to wrap the mochi.

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My Japanese Kitchen

Mochiko Flour

Mochiko flour, a.k.a. Sweet rice flour is often used for making mochi. Some mochi recipes may asked for Glutinous rice flour but this can be used instead. If buying glutinous rice flour, make sure to get the Japanese brands as their texture is slightly different from the Asian or Chinese ones.

The Japanese glutinous rice flour can be quite expensive - a pack of 120 grams cost US$5 in Mitsuwa. The Mochiko flour is much cheaper and does the job. I got my Mochiko flour (454 grams) for US$2 at the local Asian supermarket.

You should find the Mochiko flour next to all the sugar and flour in your local Asian supermarket. I can only find the Japanese glutinous rice flour in Japanese supermarket.

Red Bean Paste

There are two kinds of red bean paste - coarse (as shown as above) and fine. I used the brand Shirakiku which makes both types of the red bean paste. The coarse paste is known as Tsubu An and the fine paste is Anko Koshian. The key difference between both types is that you can find bits of red beans in the coarse paste while the fine paste is smooth without any bits.

Most times, you can use the both version interchangeably. Personally, I prefer to use the fine version for mochi and the coarse version for making pastry.