Come Away with Me

Ichigo Daifuku (苺大福)

I learnt how to make ichigo daifuku over the weekend!

And i think that's good news for my mochi loving family, especially my dad :)
There is something about the sticky chewiness of the glutinous rice flour that has captured our hearts for as long as i can remember.

If you've been to Japan before, you would have realised the Japanese fondness for mochi (glutinous rice cake) of all varieties. Daifuku mochi, sakura mochi, yomogi mochi, warabi mochi, just to name a few, are all readily available in most convenience stores, supermarkets and high class departmental stores.

Mochi(餅)is a Japanese confection, found usually in the shape of a small, round rice cake which are stuffed with sweet filling, most commonly sweetened red bean paste or eaten with other condiments such as kinako, soy sauce dip and seaweed. Traditionally, mochi is made by pounding steamed glutinous rice( a sweeter stickier type of rice called mochigome, which is different from the steamed rice eaten daily) in a large wooden mortar, called the usu, with a wooden mallet called the kine. Mochi is an important food in Japanese culture and is eaten specifically during the new year period.

Daifukumochi, or Daifuku (大福) in short, is a familiar and very popular type of mochi that is eaten all year round and enjoyed by the Japanese since a long time back. Daifuku comes in many varieties, the most common is white or lightly colored mochi filled with anko (red bean paste) and dusted with katakuriko (potato flour) to prevent it from sticking.

Ichigo daifuku (苺大福) or strawberry filled rice cake is a variation of Daifuku. It was invented in the 1980s and has gained immense popularity ever since.There are many sources who claimed to have come up with this way of eating daifuku though it's exact origin remains vague. It's name is as such because it contains a strawberry wrapped with a sweet filling, inside a small round mochi. Although creams are sometimes used instead, red bean paste remains the most popular filling of choice. For many Japanese palates, the sweetness of the red bean paste is believed to enhance the flavor of the strawberry bringing out the tartness of the fruit.

Ichigo daifuku's huge following also means that instead of store bought version (a small daifuku cost an average of ￥150), many had since started making their own from home. While making mochi daifuku from scratch used to involve a pestle and lots of arm work, these days you can find many fun and delicious recipes which uses only the microwave and not much strength required. On this occasion though, Tominaga sensei, the cute lady in the picture, has passed onto me the secret of making this simple yet irresistable traditional Japanese confection using the more conventional method.


And these are our finished products! They looked so pretty and fluffy don't they? The best part is they tasted really like the ones you buy from the stores! What makes making daifuku extremely fun is that there is no limit to what you can come up with for the filling. Imagine banana with chocolate cream,kiwi with peanut butter? I have so many exciting fillings i am dying to try out i think i should be making my second batch really soon. And I've already promised mommy that i will make a big and soft ichigo daifuku with custard cream for her when i get back cos she still can't forget the wonderful ichigo daifuku (雪苺娘 or Yuki Ichigo) i bought for her at Tenjin station in Fukuoka when she visited last year :)

posted by テレサ @ 3:54 PM