Daifuku

Daifuku is a small, thick cake consisting of mochi (a dough made from glutinous rice) filled with anko (sweetened bean paste). It belongs to the category of traditional Japanese sweets known as wagashi, which are often served alongside green tea. There are several variants of daifuku, such as the pale-green yomogi daifuku, in which the mochi is flavoured and coloured with powdered mugwort, and ichigo daifuku, which contain a fresh strawberry as well as anko.

The dough is made with glutinous rice flour, sometimes sold as mochiko or "sweet rice flour". It is commonly available at most Asian food stores, though you may have to ask which one it is if the packages only say "rice flour". Be cautious of the "sweet rice" label; it sometimes means something quite different than glutinous rice, and the flour might not be usable for making mochi. The correct flour for this purpose is extremely fine and powdery and looks more like cornstarch than like ordinary rice flour, which is grainier and handles very differently.


Ingredients:

1 cup mochiko
2/3 to 1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar

Arrowroot starch

1 cup tsubushi-an, or whichever variety of bean paste you prefer


Process:

Mix the first three ingredients together in a small saucepan, stirring until all lumps are broken up.

Heat over a medium-high flame, stirring constantly.
The cooking process should only take three or four minutes; make sure and pay close attention so it doesn't burn.
The mixture will start to thicken quite rapidly, starting from the bottom of the pan.
Keep stirring.
Before long, it will start to resemble large lumps of rubber cement.
Keep stirring!
The next stage turns into a more cohesive mass, which is quite sticky and stretchy.
When you can pull it away from the sides of the pan and it stretches out like chewing gum, remove from heat and set aside.

Dust a cutting board with a thick layer of arrowroot starch.
Scrape dough from pan onto the board, and roll it around in the starch.
Slice into 12 even pieces with a Very Sharp Knife.

Divide the bean paste into 12 equal portions and roll each one into a ball.

Take a piece of mochi in your hands and pat, pull, and flatten it into a small pancake shape.
The dough should feel quite squishy and elastic; use the starchy board to keep it from getting sticky.

Place a ball of anko in the middle of the pancake; fold and tuck the mochi over and around the filling and pinch the edges together to seal it. Gently pat into a thick, round, slightly flattened cake.
Set the finished daifuku on the cutting board, smooth side up, and make 11 more.


Notes:

These are best eaten the same day. If there are leftovers, pop them in the freezer; they are also delicious frozen - like a Japanese ice-cream sandwich.

Mochiko/glutinous rice flour varies widely in absorbency from brand to brand, so you may need a much greater quantity of water to make the batter thin enough. Experiment with adding extra little by little until it looks right.


The shaping process:

Tsubushi-an

Tsubushi-an is a thick, chunky, reddish-brown paste made from azuki beans. It is used in quite a few Japanese sweets and dainties, many of which are meant to complement the flavour of green tea. There are several other variants of sweet bean paste, such as koshi-an (which has been sieved to remove the bean skins), tsubu-an (in which the beans remain whole), and shiro-an (made from white navy beans), but I happen to prefer the texture of this chunky variety.


Ingredients:

3 cups water
1/2 cup azuki beans
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt


Process:

Wash and drain the azuki beans.
Fill a saucepan most of the way with water, add the beans and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and drain; rinse beans with cold water and drain again.

Put the drained beans back in the pan with 3 cups water, cover, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.
Simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the water is nearly evaporated and the beans are very soft.

Turn the heat down to Very Low, and uncover the pan.
Add the sugar and mix it into the beans, stirring and mashing with a large fork.
Add the salt and continue to stir and mash, until the bean mixture has become a chunky paste.

This recipe makes about one cup of tsubushi-an.

At this point, I am often tempted simply to eat it with a spoon, but I can assure you that it will be even better if put to use as filling in daifuku, chuuka manju, yatsuhashi, botamochi, ohagi...


Notes:

Red bean paste is usually very, very, very, sweet; unbearably sweet for my taste, so I have drastically reduced the sugar content for this recipe. It is still quite sweet, but if your sweet tooth is doughtier than mine, feel free to add another 1/4 or so of sugar and reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon.

Chicken Soup, Thai-style

Ingredients grouped by step

• A tablespoon or so of sesame oil

• A knob of ginger (about an inch)
• A knob of galangal, if you can find it
• A few cloves of garlic
• A nice fat shallot
• About an inch of fresh lemongrass (the plump stalk part)
• A kaffir lime leaf or so
• A fresh chili, if you like a little fire in your soup (this is optional)
• A half teaspoon of crushed black peppercorns
• A half teaspoon of crushed white peppercorns
• A half teaspoon of crushed coriander seeds

• The juice of one lime

• A quart of chicken broth or stock

• A tin of coconut milk (about a cup and a half)

• A bunch of green onions
• A bunch of cilantro
• A sprig of Thai basil
• A sprig of mint

Mince the ginger, galangal, lemongrass, garlic, shallot, and chili. Tear the lime leaves into quarters.

Heat the oil over a medium-high flame, in a two-or-more-quart saucepan.

Toss in the minced spices, the lime leaves, and the coriander and peppercorns. Sauté until the garlic is nicely browned.

Add the lime juice. Listen to that sizzle!

Pour in the chicken stock, turn the flame down to medium, and let it simmer for about fifteen minutes.

Now add the coconut milk. Yum!

Simmer for another five minutes or so, until the soup is good and hot.

While you wait for the soup to finish, chop the cilantro, green onions, Thai basil, and mint, into small bits.

Ladle the soup into pretty bowls, and scatter a good handful of chopped herbs over each portion. I promise it will taste better if you eat it with a proper soup spoon.

Serves 4-6, depending on the size of your bowls, and if you like to have seconds.