57 replies to this topic

[Palladion]

Those daifuku that you made look great, even if the yomogi ones are on the paler side. I've sworn off yomogi-flavored daifuku, after the last couple that I bought allowed their yomogi flavoring to overpower everything else.

Can you go into a little detail about how you prepare the mochi side of the daifuku? I've become quite enamored with daifuku and other Japanese confections since coming to Japan, but I'll be returning to the States in a few months, and I don't really think they're going to be readily availble in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.

I tried a mirowave preparation using jyoushinko (上新粉) but it would either dry and and clump up, or it would stay liquid, with a very "raw" flavor (the flour would not incorporate). Anything you can share on ingredients or technique would be greatly appreciated.

-------
Alex Parker

[Kiem Hwa]

SUPER EASY DAIFUKU MOCHI

Its really really easy! I used to use a microwave version too, and it always sucked so i gave up making mochi for awhile (except for occasionlly pounding some for special occasions).

All you do is boil 2 1/2 C water + 1 C sugar in a pot
(The water can be with other flavorings/colorings in it - like my (boiled with some baking soda then blended up) yomogi).

Then reduce the heat to really low and dump in 1 box mochiko, stir until it is mixed well (its kinda hard, make sure theres no clumps). Then turn off the heat.

I dump it out onto a saran wrap coated with katakuriko and knead it (in the saran wrap) a bit to make sure theres no lumps (its pretty hot), and then just cut off clumps to make the daifuku.

I like this recipe because it gives a nice consistency of the mochi and it doesnt get hard right away or get too sticky....and its super fast and easy.

For the strawberry part, I clean the strawberries, then coat them with the kushian (roll it around the strawberry). Make sure to prepare all the strawberries before making the mochi part, then just pull the mochi around the strawberry-an. Or just prepare clumps of anko or whatever you want to put inside, but the strawberry daifuku was unbelievably easy to make.

[torakris]

but I'll be returning to the States in a few months, and I don't really think they're going to be readily availble in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.

Alex,
Are you going to be leaving for good? when are you leaving?

I have never seen daifuku in Cleveland, if you find some you must let me know!!

and Kiem Hwa those all look delicious!!

[Palladion]

SUPER EASY DAIFUKU MOCHI

Its really really easy!  I used to use a microwave version too, and it always sucked so i gave up making mochi for awhile (except for occasionlly pounding some for special occasions).
...

Thanks so much for that write-up! I'll go ahead and give it a shot soon (maybe this weekend. One question, though. How much mochi-ko comes in a box? I've only ever seen it in bags here in Japan, and I've seen it in different sizes, including 200g bags and 1kg bags and some in-between.

Alex,
Are you going to be leaving for good? when are you leaving?

I have never seen daifuku in Cleveland, if you find some you must let me know!!

and Kiem Hwa those all look delicious!!

Yes, I decided not to stay for a third year, so I'm headed back to the States at the end of July. Both sad and excited. Sad and excited on the food side of things too: I never became interested in food until I after I came to Japan, so I'll have an entirely new world to explore in Cleveland. Right now, I'm trying to figure out what places here in Tokyo I want to eat at before leaving...

I really doubt daifuku are available in Cleveland, which is why I'd really like to learn to make my own. It's such a lovely and versatile little dessert.

-------
Alex

[jschyun]

Kiem Hwa, those pics are making me hungry! I can't believe those are homemade!

A month or two ago, I was able to get some sakura daifuku and it alleviated some of my daifuku-deprivation pain. I found it at Minamoto Kitchen in Costa Mesa. Delicious.

[Kiem Hwa]

One question, though. How much mochi-ko comes in a box? I've only ever seen it in bags here in Japan, and I've seen it in different sizes, including 200g bags and 1kg bags and some in-between.

Over here, everyone pretty much buys the same brand of mochiko from Koda Farms. So if you ever see any recipes saying "1 box mochiko", this is the box they mean: it is 16oz.

It is Strawberry season, so a perfect time for everyone to learn how to make Ichigo Daifuku!!!

Edited by Kiem Hwa, 19 May 2005 - 02:42 AM.

[anzu]

I really doubt daifuku are available in Cleveland, which is why I'd really like to learn to make my own.

I lived for 5 years in Columbus OH, and you could buy daifuku there. The selection was limited, and you could buy only frozen ones, but it was still not a complete desert as far as daifuku were concerned. There is a Japanese grocery store there called Seafood Japan, should you ever be in Columbus. However, some Chinese grocery stores also carried frozen ones.

Of course, Columbus is not Cleveland, but you might want to consider checking the freezer cabinets in the Chinese groceries. Who knows?

[therese]

Korean groceries are also a likely source for daifuku. Super H Mart is an especially large and nice one that's a chain. They carry several different brands of daifuku.

[mukbo]

[ I made daifuku at home since my three-year old son loves it. but after couple of try I gave up. the batter was to sticky and Three-year old can eat only one.

The little mochi store(Not Minamoto Kichoan) in mitsuwa edgewater used to carry a strawberry and cream filled mochi only on Saturday and Sunday.
I am not sure that they still carry them.
Actually, I tried but I didn't like it at all.

[torakris]

green plum daifuku

'tis the season......

[Kiem Hwa]

Even though I have a nice recipe for the mochi part of the Daifuku, posted above as "Super Easy Daifuku Mochi Recipe", by the next day (spent overnight in the refridgerator), my mochi still gets kind of hard and breaks apart easily, making it messy and not as good by the next day.

Does anyone have any ideas about how to make the mochi so it is still as soft the next day (if it is even possible)???

[Hiroyuki]

Even though I have a nice recipe for the mochi part of the Daifuku, posted above as "Super Easy Daifuku Mochi Recipe", by the next day (spent overnight in the refridgerator), my mochi still gets kind of hard and breaks apart easily, making it messy and not as good by the next day.

Does anyone have any ideas about how to make the mochi so it is still as soft the next day (if it is even possible)???

First of all, refrain from putting daifuku in the refrigerator! It's quite natural that daifuku will get hard that way.

As you may know, sugar keeps the mochi from hardening. I found this:
http://www.surugaya....r/ans_0105.html
A summary:
It is possible to make daifuku dough that will stay soft for a long time by increasing the ratio of sugar to mochi ko. The ratio may be in the range of 0:100 to 230:100. With no sugar added, the dough will start to harden in two or three hours. At the ratio of 230:100, the dough will stay soft for five to six days. As for daifuku, the ratio should be 50:100 to 100:100.

Mix mochi ko with water and steam it for 30 to 40 minutes and then mix sugar in four or five portions.
Caution: Add sugar after steaming the mochi ko. Do not add it all at once.

[Hiroyuki]

I also found this:
http://www2.plala.or...17/daihuku2.htm
which says that store-bought daifuku contains food additives to keep it from hardening and increase the shelf life.

[Kiem Hwa]

Thanks Hiroyuki!!!
Ill try adding more sugar and see how it goes

[purpleplasticdoll]

One of the daifuku I had in Japan, I've always thought they were just called mochi. This has actual whole red bean in the fillings. I couldn't find much fruit flavoured daifuku around, only strawberry, it was probably because I couldn't read Japanese.

[torakris]

A daifuku craving came on really strong yesterday, I really wanted a grape one but alas none was to be found....
Instead I found this



zunda daifuku (with edamame) and goma daifuku (sesame seed ones filled with anko-red bean paste)
they were both really good but I particularly enjoyed the sesame one

[torakris]

A thing of beauty....








....the ichigo (strawberry) cream daifuku

[torakris]

a new one for me, the nama choco daifuku (mini sized)

[mochihead]

Japan always has the most beautiful desserts! Damn it, I want to know how they get the cream in the middle without it turning into a big gloppy mess...

[Hiroyuki]

Japan always has the most beautiful desserts! Damn it, I want to know how they get the cream in the middle without it turning into a big gloppy mess...

This page (Japanese only) says to squeeze whipped cream into dome shapes and then freeze them. (Scroll down and view the photo under "1".)

[mochihead]

This page (Japanese only) says to squeeze whipped cream into dome shapes and then freeze them.  (Scroll down and view the photo under "1".)

D'oh! I should have thought of that - it would be similar to making tempura ice cream. Thank you for the link, Hiroyuki! Now I'll have something new to experiment with later this week. :D

[torakris]

This page (Japanese only) says to squeeze whipped cream into dome shapes and then freeze them.  (Scroll down and view the photo under "1".)

D'oh! I should have thought of that - it would be similar to making tempura ice cream. Thank you for the link, Hiroyuki! Now I'll have something new to experiment with later this week. :D

Oh, if you do please post pictures!

Daifuku are so easy (and relatively cheap) to get so I never bother trying to make them, maybe someday....

[GlorifiedRice]

This page (Japanese only) says to squeeze whipped cream into dome shapes and then freeze them.  (Scroll down and view the photo under "1".)

D'oh! I should have thought of that - it would be similar to making tempura ice cream. Thank you for the link, Hiroyuki! Now I'll have something new to experiment with later this week. :D

Oh, if you do please post pictures!

Daifuku are so easy (and relatively cheap) to get so I never bother trying to make them, maybe someday....

I wonder if you freeze the fruit inside the whipped cream in an Aebleskivver pan then make thin Mochi "sheet circles" between two sillicone sheets in a tortilla press, then wrap the mochi circles around it, if THAT would make a nice Daifuku?

I live in the greater Philadelphia Pa area and I havent seen Daifuku in H-mart, Assi Plaza or Kobawoo. Now, after reading this thread I wish Id see the chocolate ones Torakris had, here.

BTW- the Aebleskivver pan would make great home made Takoyaki...
Here is what they look like LINKLINK

(Torakris? Is this okay as a first post?)

[JasonTrue]

When I was making daifuku on my first trip to Japan in 1998 or so, I believe we started by taking a small chunk of mochi from the mass, rolling it back into a ball, then slowly molding it around a cube of anko, pressing between fingers.

Rolling out or flatting the mochi probably would be harder to work with, because you can't easily massage the flat mochi into a seamless ball.

I don't think the technique would be different with a frozen filling; the anko was pretty firm too.

[torakris]

This was a daifuku combination I didn't care for.
strawberry, matcha cream and anko (read bean paste)

[melonpan]

hi there made ichigo daifuku yesterday for the first time and then again today since i still had half a pack of shiratamako.

overall, i was pleased by how easy it was to make and how delicious the resulting sweet was for the amount of effort (not much!), as long as you take care to get the best strawberries.

... ... ...

notes.

the anko was so wet and sticky, very difficult to handle. yesterday i put the anko into a nonstick fry pan to try to evaporate a bit of the water to make it a bit easier but it didnt really work.

last night i read this topic and decided to try it with refrigerated anko and when i made it again today, the cold made it easier. not totally, but much better than yesterday. i also thought the canned anko was too sweet. but im unwilling to make my own anko, so ill put up with the sweetness.

the recipe i used used 100 g shiratamako for 6 strawberries, but i was unhappy with the fruit/anko/mochi ratio. too much mochi. so this time i divided the dough from 100 g shiratamako into 8 pieces. much more fruit per sweet. the strawberries i used were really quite small, though.

i was surprised by how easy it is to make the mochi. i was always kind of intimidated, worried about handling the hot stuff, but it actually cools down really quickly.

strawberry season is here but wont last more than a month, so i will probably make this in two weeks or so to say good bye to strawberries for the year. but i will be making daifuku again after strawberry season is over. mikan, budou, cafe au lait as well as kuri daifuku are all in the plans.

oh. and i will definitely try freezing whipped cream and adding that to the ichigo daifuku when i make it again. ill need to have the technique down before i tackle cafe au lait.

i am hoping by the end of this year, with all my new experience, my daifuku will also be more attractively put together.

Attached Images

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Edited by melonpan, 16 May 2010 - 11:54 PM.

[torakris]

Wow! those really look great. I've never really thought to much about making my own since I can buy them pretty much anywhere, but you've made it sound so easy..

[Amatō]

Melonpan, my recipe is for very thin mochi, it is very elastic, maybe you like to try this out?
Which water/shiratamako ratio did you use?
It is also helpful to place anko in refrigerator(freezer) for 30 minutes(already wrapped around strawberry)but not longer. Also it is easier to make anko layer very thin.I used shiro-an in my recipe, but I prefer koshi-an too, better taste.
You mochi look good, as I made it first time I even couldn't close the daifuku, all I had were a huge "lump" of mochi/anko /strawberry. :-)(I ate this "lump").
After some practice with my recipe(mochi is very stretchy)it looks like this:(but I'm a maniac, really...);-)


Recipe:http://wagashi-net.de/blog/wagashimaniac/2010/05/ichigo-daifuku-2/
What I would like to know, on the other pictures all the daifuku look always so "thick" and somehow fluffy, does anybody know how it is made??
Torakris, your daifuku(I'm jealous, they look so good... ;-)) where they more sweet, like gyuhi mochi(very sweet and soft mochi)?

Edited by Amatō, 25 May 2010 - 01:24 AM.